


OUTLAW

by stormy1990



Series: Tokyo Fight Club Chronicles [3]
Category: Hey! Say! JUMP, Johnny's Entertainment, Johnny's Jr., Johnny's WEST, KAT-TUN (Band), Kis-My-Ft2 (Band), Sexy Zone, SixTONES (Band)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-07-15 23:13:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 89,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7242715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormy1990/pseuds/stormy1990
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taiga and Kentaro had to find their way on their own and with them choosing the path which could bring everything back to normal, but could also cost their lives, their dangerous battle began.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the last part of the Tokyo fight club chronicles.  
> Please read the notes of the first two parts, because they are valid for this part as well!
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading and please excuse all my mistakes! ^__^y

 

“And you don’t know their names by any chance?” Taiga asked in a charming voice after trying to get information out of the waitress for the last twenty minutes already.

“I’m really bad in remembering such important stuff, you know!” The young woman let out with a playful smile, but Taiga just took his glass, taking another sip.

“Sorry, but I unfortunately can’t pay you for information.” Taiga let out as he put his glass back on the counter, but as he wanted to stand up the woman hold on to his arm making him stay in place.

“It doesn’t have to be money.” She explained as she moved his hand over Taiga’s lower arm, leaning closer over the counter. Taiga put his free hand over hers, giving her a knowing smile. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t be used to this by now and he would handle it as always, at least that was what he had planned, but then he heard someone shouting from the VIP part of the club and he rolled his eyes already before turning around.

“You little bastard come back!” Someone screamed and as Taiga looked through the crowd he saw who he was looking for after a few seconds, running towards him.

“Taiga, run!”

“Idiot, don’t say my name and don’t come over here!” Taiga whispered to himself before jumping up from the stool. “It was a pleasure talking to you.” Taiga said towards the waitress giving her a short kiss on the hand before dashing towards the exit followed by Kentaro and a few shouting men.

“This way!” Taiga shouted over his shoulder and Kentaro ran after him without daring to look back. He could still hear the men shouting after them and he knew that they wouldn’t be easy to outpace. Taiga dashed out one of the alleys and as Kentaro took a look around he saw that they were close to the harbor.

“Where are we going?”

“Trust me. I know a good place to get rid of them.”

“I’m not doubting that, but please remember that we have to survive it!” His fears weren’t unfounded, after Taiga had almost burned them alive, crushed them and made a dozen aggressive dogs follow them at other escapes before.

“Without my ideas we would be dead already!”

“I know, I know! Keep running!” Kentaro shouted as the men slowly caught up to them.

“Over that fence!” Taiga said, suddenly making a turn to the right so that Kentaro cursed at him as he had almost ran past the turning. Taiga jumped on a barrel next to the fence and jumped over it without any kind of problem, holding his hand out to Kentaro as he still held himself up on top so that he could pull Kentaro up.

“You are so funny!” Kentaro let out annoyed as he had already problems to get on the barrel, because he was way shorter than him and not such a good jumper.

“Stop your sarcastic statements and hurry!” Taiga shouted at him and just in time he got a grip on his hand and pulled him over the fence as the men had caught up to them.

They kept running and as the first daylight broke through the clouds Kentaro could see a bridge in front of them and that was when he realized what Taiga was planning.

“You want to kill us?”

“You have a better idea?”

Kentaro was about to reply something as he was violently thrown to the ground as one of the men had caught up to them.

“Give it back!” The man shouted at him, but Kentaro tried to twist himself away under him and blocked the punch the man threw at his face. Before he could attack again Taiga had taken a run up at him and kicked him off his friend helping him back up.

“Hurry! There is a ship coming!” Taiga yelled and they put up speed and the moment they set foot on the already moving bridge the bridge warden screamed at them to stop, but of course they wouldn’t. The bridge was too flat to let ships through, so it had to be opened in the middle and lifted up to the sides as soon as a ship came and to their luck that was exactly now.

“Taiga the bridge is already too much apart. We won’t make it to the other side!”

“Who said I wanted to jump over it?” Taiga asked and Kentaro just shook his head.

“How come I leave the escape route always to you?”

“Because you are the one who gets us into trouble every time, so at least the escape should work, right?” Taiga said laughing as they reached the highest point of the bridge, looking down at the ship which just approached. It was a cargo ship and even though the loading would reduce their fall the ship was small, so they had to wait for the perfect timing to jump or they would miss it.

“Come on you stupid ship, move faster!” Kentaro hissed between his teeth. Their chasers were right behind them, but they had come way too far to get caught now.

“Now, jump!” Taiga said and jumped first. Kentaro was about to jump right after him, but he was stopped at the last moment with an arm closing around his throat.

“Got you!” One of the men said triumphing while another one searched through Kentaro’s pockets, but didn’t find anything.

“Where is it?” He yelled at Kentaro grabbing a fistful of his hair making him gasp.

“Hey, tough guys! You’re searching for something?” Taiga shouted up to them as he had landed without a problem on the ship. He held up a few pieces of paper, which he had received from Kentaro right after dashing out the club, with a triumphing smile. “By the way, can you swim?”

The men looked confused for a moment, but the first one went flying before he could even scream out after Kentaro had kicked him off the bridge. Then he threw the other one over his shoulder so that he also fell down as well. He turned around to fight off the last man, but unfortunately he was quite a good fighter making it hard for Kentaro to keep his balance.

“Kentaro, hurry!” Taiga shouted up to him as he had ran to the back of the ship, which would be out of his reach by no time.

“What do you think I’m doing here?” He shot back as he punched the other one directly into the face and was about to push him off the bridge, but at the last moment he grabbed Kentaro by the arm and pulled him down with him.

“Damnit!” Taiga searched for a rope and waited for Kentaro to come to the surface again. “Come on!” He said impatient and as he was almost about to jump in, regardless if he would destroy the papers they just stole, Kentaro broke through the surface coughing.

“Kentaro, catch!” Taiga threw the rope at him and he swam over to get it, letting himself get pulled towards the ship.

“Look the plan worked!” Taiga said proud as he had helped Kentaro on board who dropped to the ground right away.

“Yeah, great. That was so going as planned!” Kentaro replied sarcastic.

“What? We didn’t die, that was all you wanted.”

“Yeah right!”

“Hey, if you would finally learn how to steal stuff without getting caught it would be a lot easier to get away!”

"I stole so many things for us in the last months, so don't complain! Without me we wouldn't have food and no clothes!"

"But when it is about the important things you always get caught!"

“Oh now it’s my fault Mr.-I-flirt-with-everyone-and-offer-myself-as-payment-to-get-information!”

“Hey at least I got to know where to find this stupid list through that and you know exactly that I would never give them that promised payment.”

“That’s why you have a lot more enemies than I do! People with broken hearts are even more dangerous than the ones with stolen items!” Kentaro countered with a mocking smile, but Taiga smacked his head in return shaking his head on their conversation.

“So what do we got anyways?” Taiga asked waving around the paper in his hand.

“It’s a list of the hideouts of the three big yakuza gangs ruling over Tokyo.”

“Oh really? Kentaro I knew that much myself!” Taiga said rolling his eyes before unfolding the papers. There were three papers with different names and locations on it. “Fire Foxes, Exposers and Reapers. So this is the titanium triangle?”

“It seems like it!” Kentaro added as he looked at the papers and found Fujigaya’s name on the Fire Foxes’ paper. “So is this one just a little bit old or does his name on this list mean that he is still alive?” He finally dared to ask, making Taiga’s look darken right away.

“You really think we should put up our hopes just through a bunch of papers?”

“Maybe we should! After all we have gone through over the past months we finally got this far.” Kentaro replied putting his hand on his friend’s shoulder as he sighed deeply. “They are still alive! They have to be!”

It wasn’t like Taiga didn't want to believe that as well, but there was no proof and the hints they got over the last months were more or less insignificant to meaningless.

After the bar had burned down right in front of their eyes, Kentaro dragged Taiga away from the building right in time before the police arrived. They hid for the next two days too afraid to get caught by the police or go back to the club to cause more trouble. But then the incident finally made it into the newspapers and as they saw the number of people they had found dead under the wreckage of the club there was hope that they had made it out somehow. If they remembered the number of members in the building of that night correctly, then four people had made it out the building somehow and while Kentaro was more than convinced that Ueda and Nikaido were two of them Taiga couldn’t really believe it. Sure even if they wouldn’t go back to the fight club there would be a good explanation for that. Either they were afraid to cause even more problems or Fujigaya and his men had them captive after fleeing the club. Either way Kentaro was determined to find them and even though Taiga had told him right from the beginning that he wouldn’t believe that Ueda survived until he would finally stay in front of him again, he promised to search for them or at least for answers about what had happened afterwards and who was still alive.

Since that incident they haven’t gone back to the fight club, not wanting to drag anyone else into their mess. Sure it was hard, they had no money with them and nowhere to sleep. But it wasn’t like Kentaro wasn’t used to that from before, so somehow they survived the last two months finally getting closer to the answers they were seeking.

“So what are we going to do? Are we searching for the fire foxes hideouts right away?” Taiga asked curious, but Kentaro bit his lip thinking about their options for a moment.

“I wonder if the other gangs know what had happened before at the Fire Foxes, you know when Nikaido left them!?”

“Even if, how should this help us?”

“If Fujigaya is really still alive and keeps them captive maybe we should know about what has happened between him and Nikaido before trying to approach them directly!”

Taiga nodded slowly, knowing what Kentaro was thinking about. Each information they would get about them would help them to get an advantage.

“So then what is your plan?”

“How about we spent one of their clubs a visit for now? You can flirt with a lot of people there to get information!” Kentaro said encouraging and teasing, gaining a punch on the shoulder in return.

“And you can run away from a lot of people when you get caught!” He shot back before chuckling.

“But first-” Kentaro announced as he stood up and Taiga waited for some really important announcement as he looked around. “-we have to get off this stupid ship, I’m feeling nauseous!”

Taiga started laughing as Kentaro rubbed over his stomach, while searching for a place where they could jump off without landing in the water.

“You are unbelievable!” Taiga said in amusement.

“Right back at you!” Kentaro said with a smile before they jumped off trying to find a hideout for the day.

***

_“Taiga, wake up!” A soft voice told him as fingertips found their way to his cheek. Instead of opening his eyes, Taiga let out a displeased groan and moved deeper into the embrace of the other person, receiving a chuckle from him._

_“I don’t want to!”_

_“Why not?”_

_“Because I have to part from you then and I don’t want that!”_

_Another chuckle from that person before he moved away a little bit, grabbing Taiga’s chin to make him look up. Taiga smiled at him with an honest and bright expression, because he was more than happy to see him. The other one smiled back at him, stroking a strain of hair out of his face putting it behind his ear before he got up and walked away._

_“Ueda, where are you going?” Taiga asked almost panicked, but the latter just gave him a light smile before he kept moving away. Taiga tried to follow him, but he couldn’t reach him somehow. “No, wait! Please wait!” Taiga shouted after him, finally able to get up and run after him. But the moment he had finally reached him and put his arms around him to stop him from moving, he heard a shot._

_“Ueda?” He asked as silence followed and the latter turned around in his arms. As Taiga dared to look up at him there was blood everywhere and Ueda had a blank expression on his face._

_“No! No, this can’t be happening!” Taiga reached out for him again, but Ueda held his arms away from him._

_“This is your fault!”_

_“What?” Taiga asked scared on Ueda’s cold voice._

_“Because you were not strong enough! This all happened because of you!”_

_“No!” Taiga tried to rip himself out of his grip, desperately wanting to cover his ears as Ueda’s voice got unnaturally loud._

_“Because of you I died! Because you couldn’t protect yourself!”_

_“Please stop, please…” Taiga went on his knees, crying. He tried to shut everything out, but Ueda’s voice echoed in his ears with the same words over and over again._

_“No, it’s not true!”_

“Taiga!”

“NO!”

“TAIGA, WAKE UP!”

A hard slap on his cheek made him open his eyes finally.

“Hey look at me! Everything is okay, it was just a dream!” Kentaro soothed him putting his hands to his cheeks so that he would face him. “Calm down!”

Taiga was shaking bitterly, tears running down his cheeks as he finally realized that it was really just a dream, again! He reached out for Kentaro and pulled him into a hug burying his face on his shoulder. His friend just moved his hands comforting over his back until he had finally calmed down again.

“And that after you could finally sleep for the last week without nightmares.” Kentaro said kind of disappointed after he had hoped that Taiga would finally be able to sleep through again after he woke up screaming each and every night for the first weeks after the incident and it got just slightly better after that.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t say that. It’s not like it’s your fault.”

“Weird, because this is exactly what those dreams try to tell me! Ow-“

Before he could drown into despair even more Kentaro had snapped his finger against his forehead, looking at him with a judging look.

“Stop this nonsense! How often do I have to tell you that?”

“I know, but- Ow, would you stop that?” Taiga scolded Kentaro as he pinched him on the arm this time.

“I stop when you stop!”

“But-“

Kentaro moved his hand warning, but Taiga grabbed it before he could do something again. “Okay, fine! But please tell me that we don’t have to go back to sleep.”

Kentaro gave him a supporting smile before he got up stretching out his hand towards him.

“Then let’s go! The sooner we find answers, the sooner you can say goodbye to those stupid dreams!” Kentaro said confident and Taiga grabbed his hand letting himself get dragged up, hoping that his confidence would really bring them the answers they were looking for.


	2. Chapter 2

“Ehm, why are we starting with the gang with the worst name again?” Taiga asked as they went through a few small alleys with a lot of not nice looking people gathered in every second corner, looking at the two boys with dangerous eyes.

“What is so bad about the name Reapers?” Kentaro asked ironical before they finally stopped in front of a huge warehouse like building.

“Can I at least say that I like Fujigaya’s choice of environment more than this person’s?” Taiga said kind of frightened by the whole dark atmosphere surrounding the club.

“Anyways let’s see how much information we can gather. But let’s lay low for today. As soon as something doesn’t go as planned we are out, okay?”

“Right behind you!”

They walked inside the club which was to their surprise extremely crowded even though it was that big. There was a long white bar on one side of the dancefloor and a metal staircase on the other side leading to something that seemed to be the VIP part. A live band was playing a rock like music making it hard for them to move over the dance floor without getting separated by people jumping around.

“Okay same plan as always. You stay at the bar and I try to find out if there is anyone in the VIP part which can give us more information,” Kentaro said before turning away from his friend. They were used to this already, it was their routine and until now it went always quite well. Okay with them getting chased out of the club, because Kentaro was discovered how he sneaked around or Taiga having to get rid of the people he had promised payment for the information he asked for, but all in all it normally went okay until now.

He looked after Kentaro as the boy started circling around the staircase searching a way upstairs without being seen by the security standing in front of it and of course he soon found a way to sneak around them, moving upstairs with another group of people pretending to be part of them. Taiga shook his head before ordering a drink at the bar, looking around if there would be someone who seemed to be a good information source. But before he could try his luck with the waitress a man around his thirties sat down next to him looking at with scanning eyes, not even trying to hide his intentions.

“How come a cute boy like you is strolling around alone in a club like this?” The man asked interested as he leant with one arm on the counter, putting his chin on his palm to have a better look at Taiga.

“Maybe I like it to look for interesting company…” Taiga started, knowing exactly how to play this game by now and not hesitating to put his foot down on the lower part of the latter’s stool. “Or I’m just a really stupid and naïve boy,” He added and looked at the other one with a mischievous smile which resulted with the other one ordering them two new drinks, ignoring that Taiga still had an almost full glass.

“So and what are you doing at such a place?” Taiga asked as he took a sip from his glass. But the stranger just shrugged his shoulders, taking his glass and gulped his drink down in one go.

“Maybe I’m just on a hunt,” He said with a determined look as he moved closer, putting his hand on Taiga’s tight, but he didn’t even flinch on the touch. All this has become so natural for him that he didn’t even care anymore, at least until a certain extent, then he had to get rid of the people and now that it seemed that he wouldn’t get any useful information out of him he would need to find an excuse to disappear for some time so that he would be gone when he returned, so that he could find someone else to question.

***

Kentaro had sneaked away from the group of people right away, hiding in a corner for a few minutes already. Contrary to the shabby façade of the club’s building the inside was quite nice. The first floor was nothing special except for the nice white counter, but the second floor was equipped with some nice white couches and in the back there were a few gamble tables and strippers were dancing on small platforms for the special customers. Carefully he moved through the room trying not to attract any attention, because he knew that first Taiga would scold him for it again and second they weren’t in some small downtown club here. This was one of the big fishes and each wrong step could have huge consequences.

“What do you mean they don’t want to negotiate?” A man at one of the biggest tables shouted at a man in front of him, who bowed apologizing towards him. But even though he sat with his back towards him something caught his interest. He seemed young, way too young to really be the head of this club, but the reaction of the people around him showed that he was at it seemed the leader.

“He said that the southern territories were his from the very beginning and that the Reapers have no claim at all,” The man let out with a scared and shaking voice and the next moment the man sitting on the couch kicked the table away spilling all the drinks on the floor, making the girls which were sitting next to him scream out surprised.

“Those damn Fire Foxes! They really think they can just do as they please!”

Kentaro tried to get closer so that he could hear more of the conversation. If he was lucky he would hear some names and there were a few names he would die to hear. But before he could get close enough to catch more of their conversation a hand landed on his mouth and another one around his arms and upper body, dragging him into a small corridor.

***

Taiga splashed some water into his face after he had excused himself at the bar and had walked through the club for quite a bit trying to find someone fitting, but luck didn’t seem to be with him, so he made a turn to the toilets. But he had to hurry back to the counter not knowing when Kentaro would be back and if he wouldn’t find him at the counter, they would search for each other for an eternity. He turned towards the door, but froze as the man from before was standing in front of him.

“Still here?” He asked in an amused voice, but Taiga got already annoyed. He had been kind of persistent before.

“Almost on my way though,” Taiga replied calm and tried to pass him, but the other one put his hand to the doorframe, blocking his way.

“Why in such a hurry?” He asked in a playful voice as he made a step towards him and out of reflex Taiga stepped back. This was where his calm attitude stopped. As long as he could get away from all of them without a problem he was fine with a lot, but as soon as he got trapped somewhere he got nervous. “Oh so denying after you were so talkative earlier? Kind of unfair, don’t you think so?” He asked in a played hurt voice.

“Sorry, but I’m not the type to say yes to everyone,” Taiga replied trying to keep a poker face. He dared to make a step forward again, trying to pass him and just for a moment it seemed like the man would let him go like this as he removed his arm to let Taiga pass, but the moment he had stepped next to him, he clasped his waist from behind, dragging him into one of the toilet cabins.

Taiga shouted at him to let go while trying to free his arms to be able to hit him, but the problem was that he didn’t have much space to fight and for his type of fighting that was a huge disadvantage. As he wouldn’t stop struggling, the other one slammed him against the wall, putting his weight against his back.

“Come on, don’t be like this! You can’t tell me that you didn’t expect this outcome after approaching me like this before,” He whispered next to his ear.

Sure that was what Taiga always was prepared for, but normally he was able to get away before the situation escalated like this. He hit his elbow back against the other one’s ribs, making him back off at least a step, but he hadn’t enough space to kick him and before he could turn around completely he found himself slammed against the wall again, but this time with his head first, resulting with everything around him to start spinning and him feeling nauseous.

“How about you just enjoy it?” The man asked laughing before he reached out for Taiga’s pants and that was when Taiga completely lost it and started slashing wild around him. He somehow succeeded to turn around and kick the other one away, but his attacks weren’t showing much effect on him.

“A rebellious one, I see,” The man let out before he reached out for Taiga again and landed a punch on his face as he tried to attack again. Taiga could feel how his struggling got weaker as the man reached out for his pants again as Taiga found himself slammed into the wall with his face first once more. He wanted to fight back, he wanted to scream for help, but his body felt too heavy, almost paralyzed. With shaking hands he tried to somehow make the other one let go of him, but as the other one had almost succeeded in pulling down his pants the door slammed open and the man got dragged away from him.

“Let go, you-“ Before he could end his sentence he screamed out and as Taiga turned around he saw how he got slammed into the mirror with his head first and landed unconscious on the floor. Taiga closed his pants with shaking hands and took a deep breath before he stepped out the cabin, but as a familiar face smiled at him he didn’t understand what was going on anymore.

“Myuto?”

***

Kentaro tried to free himself, but it wasn’t as easy as he hoped. But instead of breaking free he moved backward and slammed his attacker into the wall behind him so that his grip loosened. That was when he finally got his arms free and ripped himself out of his grip before turning around ready to attack straight on.

“Time! Time!” The other one yelled suddenly, ducking with his hands formed to a T-form in front of his face.

“What?” Kentaro asked confused, but not about the fact that the other one gave up, but about the fact who was standing in front of him.

“Fukka, what the hell are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same!” Fukka replied as he was sure that Kentaro wouldn’t attack him anymore.

“I- no wait this is too long to discuss it here!” Kentaro finally said as his look fell on the people in the VIP room again. “Anyways I have to get back!”

“You want to get killed?” Fukka asked him as if he would be out of his mind. “You can’t just walk up to the head of the Reapers and overhear his conversations and think that you can walk out here without a problem afterwards.”

“Oh really? It worked quite well before you showed up!”

“Yeah, because I got you away before they noticed you!”

“Get lost Fukka, this has nothing to do with you! I don’t care how risky it is, I need to-“

“Find Nikaido and Ueda?” Fukka ended his sentence to his surprise and he didn’t even have to ask as his eyes asked already enough questions.

“Did you really think that your club members wouldn’t search for you? News travel fast in the Underground you should know that!” Fukka said clapping Kentaro supporting on the shoulder. “Would you mind leaving for today at least? Let’s discuss this at a safer place and if you want to come back here afterwards I won’t stay in your way, promise!”

Kentaro growled annoyed, but gave in for now. He had at least a few information and if he wanted to admit it or not, he was quite happy as they finally stepped out the club again.

“Okay so why where you in there and especially why both of you?” Taiga asked as the four of them searched themselves some old building to stay for the night after Fukka and Myuto bought them some good food of which they could have just dreamt over the last months in which they had to steal all their water and food if they wanted to survive.

“That we saw you enter the club was a coincidence to be honest. We were around the block and Myuto saw you, but we had some trouble entering, because the security wouldn’t want to let us in,” Fukka explained making Kentaro laugh.

“Wait, so you tell me that we two went in easily and they didn’t want to leave you inside, why?” Kentaro asked kind of amused, but Fukka just growled at him, obviously not in the mood to explain that.

“Fukka has a bad reputation around the clubs you know,” Myuto explained, but shut up as the other one shot him an angry glare.

“Seriously?” Kentaro asked with an even more teasing smile than before.

“Anyways,” Fukka continued trying to ignore the others. “Myuto’s club came for a tournament that was why he was with me. We just wanted to get away from the stress for an evening, but yeah you two brought more stress than we actually had in the first place.”

“How is everyone?” Taiga asked finally and Myuto and Fukka exchanged a weird look.

“It’s a little bit chaotic in your club since you’ve gone missing,” Myuto explained with a worried look. “The tournament was of course canceled and even though Nishikido was making a huge ruckus, Kimura made his club leave after a few more days.”

“Then they are at least all safe, that’s good,” Kentaro said with a faint smile.

“Your fighters on the other hand couldn’t really deal with what had happened this easily. Tegoshi was the one who went missing after you. He stayed for just one more week longer, before he announced that he would leave the club.”

“Did he say where he was going and why?” Taiga asked worried, but he guessed the answer already.

“After Senga’s death and Nikaido’s and Ueda’s-“ Myuto paused for a moment not sure how to formulate it. “- ehm not known whereabouts, he said there was no reason for him to stay anymore. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate on fighting like this, but it came really sudden to be honest.”

“What did you mean as you said he was the first one?” Kentaro asked, suddenly not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

“For the next weeks everything went more or less normal, because the others seemed to have faith that you would come back to ask them for help, but about a few weeks ago Juri, Kochi, Kento and Fuma left the club as well,” Fukka explained with a weird smile on his face.

“What is it?” Kentaro asked confused as Fukka didn’t continue, but started laughing instead.

“I just wonder if Fuma will really do what he said.”

“Why? What did he say?”

“You really want to know?”

“Fukka!”

“Okay, okay. If what I heard is true his words were like ‘I’m going to kill those two idiots and when they are already dead I’m going to die just to kill them again!’,” Fukka explained with an amused smirk and Kentaro and Taiga just shook their heads.

“Yes that sounds like Fuma!” Taiga said laughing and Kentaro just nodded.

“Anyways, what were you two doing over the last two months? Even though the other clubs knew that everyone was looking for you, no one could find you and many thought you have died in the fire together with Nikaido and Ueda.” Myuto said. waiting for an explanation.

“They are not dead!” Kentaro shot back at him angrier than he wanted and Myuto gave him an apologizing look right away. Sure they didn’t know what happened that night and even if they would, it didn’t make it easier to believe that they would still be alive. But they had to! Something told Kentaro that he wasn’t just thinking this because he couldn’t deal with their sudden loss.

“We are gathering information about the Titanium Triangle at the moment,” Taiga explained and to his surprise Fukka and Myuto nodded instead of scolding them.

“And what did you find out until now?” Fukka asked.

“Unfortunately not much. For now we have the hideouts about all three groups. Or at least more or less, because the main hideout from the Fire Foxes is destroyed and Fujigaya’s name is the only one we know and we are not even sure if he survived the fire. Shige and Kitayama are not on the list, but that doesn't have to mean anything.”

“And why did you go to the Reapers then?”

“Because they might have information which could help us finding Fujigaya and his gang without running into a trap, because truth is that they know our faces and when they are still alive they will recognize us right away,” Kentaro answered instead.

“Also true.” Myuto said with a sigh. “So what do we do next?”

“We?” Kentaro asked kind of confused, but Fukka and Myuto just exchanged a short look before smiling at the two boys.

“You can see us as your secret connection to the fight clubs. Don’t underestimate our information network!” Myuto explained and Kentaro and Taiga exchanged a brief look as well before nodding hesitantly.

“Thank you! With your help everything might go a little bit faster!” Kentaro said even though he felt a little bit guilty for dragging their friends into their mess after all.


	3. Chapter 3

“Not that I doubt you, but why are we in front of one of the Exposers’ clubs after you scolded us for running around the Reapers’ club just like this?” Taiga asked with a nauseous feeling after they had met up the next evening and Fukka had shown them the way to a really noble looking club.

“The Exposers are in control of this area and over all those years there was no trouble with them at all, so I hope that it is easier to get information from them instead of the Reapers.” Fukka explained neutral before walking into the club making the others look at each other, but in the end they all just shrugged with their shoulders moving after him.

“Is this a girls’ bar?” Kentaro asked confused as he saw all the young women in long dresses sitting with the customers on nice leather couches, which were separated by something that looked like quite expensive silk curtains.

“Please tell me that you have enough money to pay this evening?” Taiga whispered towards Myuto who smirked at him.

“You want to stay that long? You know there are cheaper ways to get someone if you need it that badly,” Myuto teased him, but regretted it right away as Taiga hit him at a quite unpleasant spot, making him gasp.

“Keep your perverted imagination to yourself, would you!” Taiga scolded him before following Kentaro and Fukka which were already on their way to a free couch.

“So do you have enough money?” Taiga asked again as they had sat down.

“It would be more if you wouldn’t have won all our fights before,” Myuto said scolding before handing him his purse and the older one snatched it away without hesitation.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he apologized not even trying to make his voice sound guilty.

“Good evening boys, you want some company?” A young woman in a beautiful long golden dress asked them and Kentaro hit Fukka on the back of his head right away, as he was looking at her like a wild lion without food for at least a month. But the woman didn’t seem to mind and chuckled before sitting down next to Myuto who grinned over to Fukka, which gave him a death glare in reply.

“So what brings some cute boys like you to a club like ours?” She asked right away, stroking with her long fingernails over Myuto’s cheek.

“We need information!” Taiga explained right away obviously not enjoying this as much as Myuto and Fukka.

“What kind of information would that be?” The woman asked curious, but not averse to help them.

“Expensive information,” Taiga let out as he put the first money on the table and luckily Myuto didn’t complain as he was still too busy with keeping his eyes higher than the woman’s neck.

She took the money and let it vanish inside the neck line of her dress, looking around before turning back to the boys with a smile.

“Then let’s have a talk.”

***

Half an hour later the boys sneaked around some warehouses a few blocks away, with Fukka and Myuto arguing in a low voice behind them about the woman in the club. After they had given money a third time to her they finally had all the information they needed and even though Myuto didn’t seem to want to leave either, he dragged Fukka on the ear after him as he refused to leave.

“You were sitting right next to her the whole time, of course you didn’t mind! I had nothing of this evening, you know?”

“But it also wasn’t your money we just spent!” Myuto hissed back, but shut up as Kentaro turned around to them, putting his finger on his lips to make them finally shut up.

“You wanted to help us, right? So don’t complain!” Taiga whispered before they moved on, stopping at a back door of one of the still more or less okay looking warehouse buildings around the block.

“So I guess it is here!” Taiga said as he remembered what the woman had said about the whereabouts of their higher ups and as they had shown her the paper with the names on it, she had pointed at one telling them that this was the person they should look for and that he would be around here.

“Can we really trust her?” Fukka asked kind of taken aback by the environment.

“You have a better idea, I’m all ears?” Taiga asked with a raised eyebrow, but Fukka just looked down not saying anything anymore. “Then let’s go!”

They sneaked inside and found themselves in a huge fabric hall with a lot of pipes and metal stairs. Kentaro signalized all of them to stay silent and pointed to one of the stairs. After a moment they could hear voices and as a few men came into their sight they stopped, hiding behind a few metal barrels on the second floor from where they could watch the scene going on at the first floor. It was too dark to see the faces of the men clearly and the one sitting on a chair speaking to the others had his back turned towards them.

“And why should I welcome him?” The one on the chair asked one of his men curious.

“He said he brought someone who needs your help.”

“My help?” He asked chuckling, crossing his legs and leaned back on his chair. “Now I’m curious, who could someone from the fire foxes bring to ask me for help?”

The boys all exchanged a confused look on the mention of the fire foxes. Kentaro didn’t know how he should feel. Everything inside of him was in uproar. His emotions were racing each other as he waited for that person to finally come into sight. They heard two persons approaching, but then one of them stopped before they could see who it was, but the other one stepped closer and as he was in front of the one on the chair Kentaro froze.

“What a surprise! You were the last one I imagined to come to me, especially with your boss being not really forgiving when he finds out that one of his best men acts behind his back.”

“I’m just returning a favor, not more!” The other one said and on the sound of his voice Kentaro was one hundred percent sure who was standing down there. He was ready to jump out their hideout and ran down there leaving all caution behind, but he was stopped before he could even make a move. Taiga had pulled him to the ground holding him down while Fukka muffled him with his hand as he tried to complain.

“Don’t do something stupid now!” Taiga hissed at him warning, but Kentaro was obviously not ready to stay put as he tried to fight them off. “Idiot, stop struggling! Don’t you think I would like to rip him to pieces as well?”

Tears of anger were showing in Kentaro’s eyes as he relaxed under their grip and tried to calm down.

“Let’s listen to what he has to say first, okay? Maybe he can-“ Before Taiga could end his sentence some tools which had been lying on one of the barrels dropped to the ground with a loud noise and everyone turned towards Myuto who looked at them with an apologizing look after he had tried to get a little bit closer to be able to see and hear more and had hit a barrel with his leg while doing so.

“You stupid idiot!” Taiga hissed at him and he lifted his arms in apology, but before he could reply something a bullet hit the barrel right next to him, making him squeal and jump to the side.

“GET THEM!” The man who had just shot at them ordered the others and they dashed over to the staircases.

“Oh shit! Let’s go!” Fukka shouted as he helped Kentaro back up and pushed Taiga towards the exit. Kentaro tried to take a look at the remaining people and now that he knew who it was standing down there he could recognize his face at least a little bit. But the person on the chair still hasn’t turned around.

“Kentaro, come on!” Taiga shouted at him as the others were already dashing away, but just for a moment longer Kentaro remained like this as his look fell on the last person now stepping forward as they started chasing after the boys. He was stopped by the fire foxes’ member though and Kentaro wasn’t sure if he was making up things now. It had been too dark to see anything, so could it be that he could recognize him like this?

“What are you doing, come on!” Taiga grabbed his arm pulling him away before he could take another look and as a bullet hit the pipe next to his head he finally concentrated on their escape.

“Watch out!” Fukka had seen first that one of the men had already caught up to Kentaro and Taiga, but he was fast enough to jump on the handrail to move around the boys and attack the man before he could reach them. Taiga let out an approving whistle on Fukka’s rescue, but gained and annoyed growl in return.

“Would you just concentrate on running for now?” He asked impatient as he pushed them forward again as more men were about to catch up to them and bullets were missing them just by inches again.

“This way!” Myuto shouted at them as he has found an open window through which they could escape without getting too hurt when they jumped down. He jumped out first as he was sure that the others would catch up with him helping Kentaro out first, but then the window shattered over them as a bullet hit through it. Taiga had ducked for a moment, but then Fukka lifted him up pushing him towards the broken window.

“Move, come on!” He yelled at him as he looked panicked behind them as the men were about to catch up. He almost threw Taiga out the window before jumping after him, resulting with Taiga hitting the ground more than unfavorable. But before he could even think about feeling pain Kentaro and Myuto had lifted him up and helped him to keep running. Fukka was right behind them, telling them where to run and a few minutes later they dropped to the ground at a roof of an old unused apartment building.

Kentaro was breathing hard, the taste of copper in his mouth as he punched the floor several times.

“Damnit, we were so close," he cursed.

“Who was the person down there?” Myuto asked as he sat up again.

“If it is really the person we think it was, then it was Kitayama,” Taiga answered instead sitting up as well, examining his legs for injuries from the fall.

“Wait, so that is the one who betrayed your club? But wasn’t he in the fire as well?” Myuto asked confused. “So if it was really him then there is really a chance for Nikaido and Ueda to be alive as well, right?”

But Kentaro and Taiga didn’t answer on that. They just exchanged a brief look knowing that it was still too early to keep their hopes up that much. And something else bothered Kentaro, but before he could tell the others what he had seen, there was a painful groan next to him and he looked at Fukka who was lying on his side having his eyes closed.

“What is it Fukka? Don’t tell me you hurt yourself while jumping out the window?” Taiga asked a little bit teasing as he moved over to him. “You were the one throwing me out the window, not the other way around and I was just about to tell you that your fighting got better, but it seems like you have to work on your stamina!”

Myuto and Kentaro escaped a chuckle on that as well and normally Fukka would yell at Taiga now, but he was still not really reacting so that Taiga moved even closer, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Fukka, are you okay?” He asked once more, this time with a hint of worry in his voice. But the latter tried to smile at him and turn away a little bit, but Taiga wouldn’t let him as he realized that he tried to hide something. So he moved his hand to the other one’s back trying to turn him around, but as he moved his hand away again as Fukka tried to convince him that he was okay he looked at his own blood strained hand in shock.

“You got shot!?” He let out completely shocked.

“WHAT?” Kentaro and Myuto jumped up, running over to them immediately.

“It’s not that bad! It’s just a graze, don’t worry that much,” Fukka tried to calm them down, but the smile he tried to form was swallowed by a painful gasp as Myuto tried to bandage the wound with his jacket.

“We have to bring him to his club!” Taiga ordered and Fukka didn’t even complain as they lifted him up.

***

“What are you doing, didn’t we tell Myuto that we would wait here?” Kentaro asked as Taiga turned to leave suddenly after Myuto had told them to wait hidden in front of the club until he had made sure that someone of Fukka’s club would take care of him.

“Yeah let’s wait for him so that he can be the next one to get hurt, because of us!” Taiga let out and Kentaro could understand his worries. He looked back towards the fight club building, suddenly feeling weird as he remembered their time at their own fight club. It wasn’t that long ago and he still didn’t give up hope that everything could go back to how it was before, but for that they had to find their protectors first.

“Then let’s see if we can find Massu!” Kentaro announced suddenly, making Taiga turn to him again.

“Why would we do that?”

“I saw Tegoshi!”

“What? When?”

“Earlier in the warehouse together with Kitayama! Or at least I think it was him.”

“You are kidding me, right?” Taiga looked more than confused as he couldn’t make sense out of this at all. “Why would he be with Kitayama?”

“I don’t know, but when there is someone who might know then I guess it is Massu.”

“Great and how are we supposed to find someone whose fight club has been torn down months ago?”

Kentaro stayed silent for a moment before he gave his friend a faint smile, but Taiga shook his head right away knowing where he wanted to search.

“No, Kentaro! You can’t be serious! Who says that he will be even there?” Taiga asked with his hands on his hips like a scolding mother standing in front of his child.

“Oh come on, where else would he have gone? After what I heard from the others he was a fighter with all his heart and because he didn’t enter another fight club there is a high possibility of him being there and as a good side effect we could earn some money at the same time.” Kentaro explained before he started walking and Taiga followed him with a deep sigh.

“And you complain that I try to kill us all the time.”

***

_“Ueda?” Taiga asked careful as he walked through the dark room seeing his protector at the other side, but he didn’t turn around to him, not even on the sound of his name. Then a shot and Taiga crouched down for a moment and as he dared to look up again Ueda was lying on the ground, wide empty eyes staring at him._

_“NO!” He wanted to run towards him, but someone grabbed his wrist holding him back and as he turned around Kitayama was standing behind him with a satisfied smile on his face._

_“Taiga, help!” On the sound of Fukka’s voice Taiga turned around again. Fukka looked at him panicked, sitting on his knees with Fujigaya standing behind him, a gun pointing at his head._

_“NO, STOP!” But before he could interfere, flames rose between them and he fell to his knees screaming._

_“Taiga!” This time it was Myuto standing behind him and Taiga turned towards him with tears in his eyes. He wanted to hug his friend, but he couldn’t stand up and somehow Myuto’s look was judging him. He pointed towards the flames and as Taiga looked over them again Fukka was lying on the ground next to Ueda. “Am I going to be next?” Myuto asked with an ice cold voice._

_“No!” Taiga let out almost inaudible._

_“Then maybe I am?” Kentaro stepped next to Myuto with the same cold look and pulled out a gun pointing it at Taiga. “Or maybe it’ll be you?”_

_“No, please!” Taiga grabbed his own hair shaking his head. He started screaming ready to lose it as Kentaro pulled the trigger._

He woke up screaming and again he needed a moment to calm down. After leaving Fukka and Myuto back at the club he had talked Kentaro into resting at least for a day before they would try to keep searching for Massu. He looked around, but even though it was completely dark in the rail carriage which they had turned into their sleeping place for the night he knew that Kentaro wasn’t inside, because otherwise he would have woken up to his screams again. Carefully he stepped out into the cold night taking a look around, but he couldn’t see Kentaro. But that was also when he realized where he had gone.

He found him a few minutes later sitting on the shore of the Arakawa River. Every time he felt restless he would try to find a place where he could just think about nothing for a while. He threw a few small stones into the slow flowing river while staring at its surface without any actual emotion on his face.

“He you dreamer!” Taiga approached him carefully before he sat down next to him.

“Another nightmare?” Kentaro asked and Taiga nodded before they fell silent for a while again.

Over the past months they had been almost starved to death, chased through half of the city, beaten up and almost got caught by either the police or the yakuza several times. One time they had even fought, because Kentaro had messed up at a club and got caught and Taiga had to somehow get him out again resulting with both having really heavy injuries. They were about to give up that night, screaming at each other and hitting each other until they both had fallen to the ground coughing. But after that day they had decided to not give up, because they had nothing to lose anymore anyways. But they had made a promise, a heavy one, about which they wouldn’t speak again until the day came on which they would either find the answers they were seeking or their world would crumble completely.

“Shouldn’t we go back? It’s quite cold.” Taiga said after a moment, but in response Kentaro put his head on his shoulder closing his eyes.

“Just a moment longer,” He whispered and Taiga knew better than argue with him, if he caught a cold he could still scold him later. “Who knows when we have the next chance to just sit around in peace not thinking about the next bad thing to happen?”

“Maybe there is no next time, as we never know before we do our next stupid move,” Taiga let out with a light chuckle gaining the same sorrowful sounding chuckle in response.

“Then let’s hope that luck is with us tomorrow again.”


	4. Chapter 4

“I’m not sure if we should be happy or worried that there is actually something going on here today.” Taiga said worried as they stepped down into the old bunker which was left from the war and was now used for street fights. Not the type the boys were used from the fight clubs, but more violent ones, without rules at all and with no people interfering in the fight. But on the other hand the money they could earn here was a lot more than they would get in an official fight.

“Like this the chances are higher that we really find Massu here today so we should be happy.” Kentaro answered as he walked further inside and it didn’t take long until they reached the center. The ring was not more than a hole in the ground as big as their training ring. It was deep enough so that no one could easily run away from an opponent by jumping up to the next floor where the others were standing and cheering for the fighters.

“Okay let’s take a look around and not attract any attention,” Kentaro said gaining a chuckle from Taiga. “What?”

“Hey, you are the one who is always messing up at the clubs, so I’m just following you, hoping that you can keep to your own warning." Kentaro rolled his eyes on that and just started moving.

Unfortunately luck didn’t seem on their side as they didn’t find him after searching for almost an hour. They were leaning against a wall at a not so crowded corner, trying to not attract any attention towards them as they scanned the room with their eyes.

“Someone else who wants to take on the challenge? Last fight for today!” Someone announced suddenly and that was when the boys looked at each other kind of disappointed.

“Would have been too easy, I guess,” Taiga said as he started moving towards the exit followed by Kentaro who took another look around.

“Yes maybe,” he said disappointed as he stepped closer to the ring taking a last look at everyone who was standing around it.

“KENTARO, WATCH OUT!”

But before Kentaro could even take a look what was going on behind him someone had kicked him down into the ring. At the last moment he was able to roll over, but he hit the wall on the other side with his shoulder quite hard.

“Oh what is it? Didn’t you fight enough over the last months? Maybe I should give you the opportunity to train a little bit.”

Kentaro looked up panicked on the sound of a familiar voice. Okay they had found a former east club member, but the wrong one.

“Iwamoto, leave him alone! We are not here to fight!” Taiga shouted down at him, but was held back by the people around the ring so that he couldn’t interfere.

“Oh sorry, but we are already in the ring, so if he wants to get out again, I guess there is no other way than to fight his way out.” Iwamoto said in an amused voice waiting for Kentaro to finally get up again. The crowd around them didn’t seem to mind who was fighting and if the opponent seemed stronger from the very beginning and they started cheering them on.

“What is it? You don’t want the first punch? Then I’ll take it,” Iwamoto said before he dashed forward as Kentaro wasn’t really sure if he should try to get out of the ring or concentrate on fighting him. But Taiga couldn’t get to him to help him up the walls and if he would cause uproar between the customers and other fighters it would bring even more trouble so he decided to fight.

Iwamoto attacked him almost furious making it clear that he was definitely still not over what had happened to their club after they had attacked Nikaido and him before. But it wasn’t like it was his fault and he wouldn’t play his living punching bag so he dodged for as long as possible dancing his way around him, making the audience cheer for him.

“Still awesome in running away, I see!” Iwamoto laughed at him after he couldn’t hit a single punch for some time and got out of breath.

“Sill a big mouth for such a short breath,” Kentaro shot back. Of course he hadn’t forgotten what he had done and how dangerous he could be and he was more than sure that when he would be in an official fight club at the moment that he would be at least in the 4th class, when not on his best way to the 5th by now.

As Iwamoto lunged out for another straight punch Kentaro ducked away trying to sweep away his feet, but Iwamoto had seen it coming and stepped on his knee making him scream out. The kick which followed slammed him into the next wall. He tried to get up again, but now he couldn’t put his whole weight back on his left leg which made his normal moves kind of problematic.

“What? Dancing class already over?” Iwamoto asked laughing before he approached him with fast steps again and for a moment it seemed like Kentaro wouldn’t even try to defend himself as he grabbed him by the collar about to punch him, but at the last moment Kentaro shifted his weight and moved with his right leg between Iwamoto’s before he grabbed him by the shirt and turned around himself to throw him over his shoulder and crushed him into the ground. Kentaro looked kind of satisfied with himself as he realized that the move which Kochi had taught him before had proven itself as really effective. But after a moment of disorientation Iwamoto was back on his feet and even more pissed than before. Luckily Iwamoto’s pace has slowed down and Kentaro was able to hit some good kicks. He was about to start his final attack hoping that he could knock him out with it, but Iwamoto dodged it unexpectedly and as Kentaro tried to go on distance again he forgot about his hurt leg and couldn't get out of his reach fast enough. The next moment Iwamoto slammed his fists against Kentaro’s ears before kicking him through the ring into the wall.

Kentaro blinked away the stars in front of his eyes and even though he saw that Iwamoto’s lips were moving he couldn’t hear him speak. Even as he looked up at Taiga who obviously screamed out for him he couldn’t hear a thing. For a moment there was complete silence before a piercing twitch shot through his ears as he tried to stand up, forcing him down on his knees again. As he realized that Iwamoto was coming closer again he tried to get up with all his might, but he fell down over and over again. He could see that Iwamoto was laughing at him and he knew that if he wouldn’t get back up this wouldn’t end with a normal knock out, because it was Iwamoto after all and just knocking his opponent out wasn’t his style. So at the last moment he screamed at his legs to move and he stood up again. He was ready to block Iwamoto’s next attack even though he didn’t know how he should be able to defend himself, but before Iwamoto reached him someone had jumped down and landed perfectly in front of him, blocking Iwamoto’s attack and kicking him so hard that he had to take several steps backward. Slowly Kentaro’s sense of hearing came back as he heard the angry shouting of the audience about the sudden intrusion.

“Sorry for the uproar, but I still have a score to settle. So let me finish this fight for him.” The boy in front of him said as he approached Iwamoto slowly, but turned around to Kentaro before attacking. “And after this I have to settle a score with you two idiots!”

“Fuma-“ Kentaro let out almost inaudible. As he looked up to Taiga he wasn’t even surprised to find Juri, Kochi and Kento standing next to him.

“You can thank me later!” He said with a smile before he had to focus on the fight again as Iwamoto came at him screaming, but Fuma blocked his attacks as if they were nothing and countered with a precision and strength with Kentaro just knew from Nikaido and Senga until now. Iwamoto tried a last comeback and hit a left hook on Fuma’s cheekbone, but Fuma just turned his face back towards him not showing a single sign of pain on his face.

“My turn.” He said with a lopsided smile before he sent Iwamoto to the ground unconsciously with an amazing uppercut. “That was for Hokuto! Not that we would ever be quit for that!” He said in a low voice before turning towards Kentaro helping him up.

“Let’s get out of here!”

***

The boys all stayed silent after they had finally left the bunker again and moved over to an empty school building were the four boys had stayed over the last days. Kentaro exchanged a worried look with Taiga as they all stopped as they had stepped into the gym and no one dared to say something.

“Why were you there?” Kentaro dared to ask after a moment of silence.

“Same question!” Fuma shot back as he turned towards him with a look which gave Kentaro the creeps. The other three had stepped back and Taiga didn’t dare to interfere. He knew that they had messed up and he wouldn't be able to calm Fuma down anyways.

“We were searching for Massu, you don’t know by any chance where he is?” Kentaro asked directly, but as he got a disbelieving chuckle from Fuma in return he knew that this had been the wrong question.

“Why should we know where Massu is?”

“We just thought you might have met with Tegoshi before and-“

“No, Kentaro! We didn’t meet with anyone after we left the club! And how could we? God damn it Kentaro couldn’t you two have just come back that evening?” Fuma hissed at him with clenched fists making a few steps towards him.

“I know that you must be angry and we are sorry! But we didn’t want to drag you into this mess even deeper. It was better like this for you. We thought that-“

“Better for us my ass! Don’t make me laugh!” Fuma raised his voice as he stepped even closer, but now Kentaro met his eyes with a hint of anger in his eyes as well.

“Yes it was! You don’t even know what happened that night. What we had to face from that night on.” Kentaro shot back at him and for a moment Fuma remained silent. “You wanted us to drag you in our mess? To risk your lives as well? Is it that you wanted?” Kentaro shouted before he pushed Fuma back, but before he could even think about dodging, Fuma’s fist had collided with his cheekbone and if he hadn't grabbed him by the collar right afterwards it would have taken him off his feet.

“DAMN IT KENTARO, WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!” Fuma screamed at him with such a hurt voice that Kentaro was out of words. He had never seen this expression on the boy’s face before. The only similar expression which had ever shown on his face was when he had lost Hokuto and it made Kentaro’s stomach turn upside down as he realized what they had done to their friends. “Until an hour ago everyone thought we would be chasing after ghosts, but I didn’t want to give up. I wanted to believe that you were still alive. We didn’t even know one hundred percent if what had happened at the Fire Foxes hideout had something to do with you, so we started to do our own research and we were damn fucking right.” Fuma put one hand on the boy’s face clapping on his cheek with his palm before he formed a smile with shaking lips as his eyes filled with tears. “Can you imagine how happy we are that you are still alive and how much I would love to beat you stupid assholes up right now?”

Kentaro didn’t even try to find a fitting answer to that, he pulled Fuma into a tight hug whispering apologies next to his ear for a felt eternity until their friends finally demanded to be part of their reunion.

***

“Okay so we have the whereabouts of the Titanium Triangle, a list with Fujigaya’s name on it, but don’t know if this list was written before the incident, we know that Kitayama is still alive and involved with the Exposers, but not because of what reason and we guess that Tegoshi is with him and to find out why we have to find Massu…wait, why do we have to find Massu again to get to Tegoshi?” Kochi ended his analysis with a question.

The boys had spread the papers over a table now sitting around it, summarizing what they knew and how to proceed from here on. Now everyone was looking at Kentaro and waited for an explanation, but the boy looked away kind of unsure what to say.

“Kentaro, please tell me that you have an awesome reason to assume that Massu can help us!” Juri asked kind of impatient making it even harder for Kentaro to answer.

“More like a feeling, but still-“ Kentaro started, but he got interrupted by a growl from Fuma who slammed his hands on his face and Juri who let his head drop on the table with a sarcastic chuckle.

“A feeling? What kind of feeling would that be?” Fuma asked ready to explode.

“You know when we were at the tournament at the east club Tegoshi seemed in a really bad mood when he saw Massu again, right?” Kentaro asked, but sure everyone had noticed that. “But something felt weird about it to be honest. Before the tournament escalated I watched them a little bit closer and in contrary to Nishikido and Ueda which tried to ignore each other as good as possible and threw daggers at each other when their eyes met by coincidence, those two searched with their eyes for the other one voluntarily and their looks told me something completely different from what everyone assumed about them.”

“So what? You are telling us that those two were still somehow in contact even though Massu had left the club and it seemed like they would hate each other?” Kochi asked trying to make sense out of what he had said.

“But why should they?” Juri asked rubbing his temples, trying to not get a headache from all the chaos.

“Because they couldn’t hide as good as they wanted maybe?” Taiga asked suddenly, gaining a nod from Kentaro who thought the same.

“Okay what?” Fuma asked confused receiving a comforting pat on the shoulder from Kochi.

“You’ll always stay blind for this topic, won’t you?” Kochi asked, grinning at him before turning towards Kento who looked away, but couldn’t stop himself from blushing.

“So you say he left the club to find Massu?” Juri asked still not really convinced.

“After what Myuto and Fukka said I guess that he didn’t leave to run away and leave everything behind and if it was really him I saw next to Kitayama then there is something big going on and I doubt that he is operating alone.” Kentaro explained.

“By the way you know that Myuto and Fukka are going to kill you as soon as they find you again, right?” Juri said after they had heard that they had met more or less through coincidence earlier.

“Trust me if we could we would leave you behind as well-“ Kentaro started and gained several death glares right away on which he lifted his arms in apology. “-but we won’t do that.”

“Better this way, trust me.” Fuma said as he stood up slapping Kento on the shoulder to follow him.

“Where are you going?” Taiga asked confused.

“To bed! Because we have to run around with you two idiots to find a person we don’t even know if he can help us in the first place. And for that I want to be at least a little bit awake.”

“Oh and you think you get to sleep if you take him with you?” Kochi asked grinning like an idiot as he pointed at Kento on which Fuma made a threatening step towards him, but Kochi jumped up hiding behind Juri’s chair.

“I can put you to sleep first if you want, but I fear you’ll wake up with a headache then!” Fuma threatened the older one before turning around to grab Kento’s hand and leave the room.

“At least it seems that he isn’t as blind for his own feelings anymore as for everyone else’s.” Kentaro said kind of amused.

“Trust me, it took us enough effort to make them come this far.” Kochi explained as he finally dared to sit down on his chair again.

“And now you don’t want to sleep near to them anymore,” Juri added making everyone laugh before they also decided that it would be better to rest before they had to find a way the next morning to find Massu or even better Tegoshi directly to get some answers.

***

“You were quite silent earlier, is everything okay?” Fuma asked as he walked inside one of the classrooms which they had occupied as their bedroom for the last days with some old mats from the gym as their bed.

“I just didn’t really know what to say. I wasn’t a member of the club as long as you were so unfortunately I don’t even know who that Massu is.” Kento said kind of disappointed before he let himself drop on the mat lying down on his back, starring at the ceiling.

“Don’t worry about it too much. It’s not like anyone would expect of you to find him by yourself.” Fuma calmed him down as he lay down next to him turning on his side to have a better look at him.

“I know, I just feel like I’m not of any help since we started searching for them.”

“And even though we found them.”

“Hey!” Kento hit him against the stomach on his mischievous smile. “You are not supposed to say that.”

“Oh I’m extremely sorry.” Fuma apologized sitting up a little bit to be able to put one arm over Kento so that he was leaning over him. “Shall I cheer you up a little bit then?”

“Maybe! Depends on how convincing you can be.” Kento challenged with a light smile as he touched Fuma’s cheek with his fingertips.

“Oh trust me I can be really convincing.” Fuma let out before leaning down to put his lips on Kento’s. The kiss was softer than one would expect from Fuma and he crawled on top of Kento waiting for the latter to respond to his kiss and he didn’t have to wait for long as Kento closed his arms around Fuma’s neck to pull him even more into the kiss. Fuma responded with one hand under the boy’s shirt and he opened his mouth right away as Kento’s tongue asked for access.

Kento escaped a displeased moan as Fuma moved his lips away from his to pull his own shirt over his head and help Kento out of his. Kento reached out for the younger one right awway again, sitting up as much as possible with Fuma still sitting on top with him. The next kiss they shared was way more rushed and Kento’s hands exploring the other one’s bare skin made it more than obvious that he wanted Fuma to speed things up.

“Since when are you so greedy?” Fuma whispered against his lips, but instead of answering he just gained a chuckle before Kento moved his lips to the latter’s jawline biting and licking his way down to his neck. The next moment Kento had slipped his hands in the back of Fuma’s pants resulting in the latter flinch a little bit on the sudden touch. But instead of complaining he responded with his hips rolling over Kento’s crotch making the older one moan next to his ear.

The next moment Kento found himself thrown back on the mat and he looked up at Fuma with eager eyes as the latter moved his hands towards his own pants opening them fast and skilled.

“If you can’t wait I can speed things up, but don’t complain later,” he proposed as he stripped out the rest of his clothes reaching out for Kento’s pants next, waiting for a respond before he actually dared to open them. Since they had left the club their relationship had made a sudden jump to the next level and even though Fuma would never complain about the way Kento's personality suddenly changed when they were alone, he knew better than take advantage of it too much.

“As if you wouldn’t want to speed up things yourself.” He got as an answer as Kento moved his own hands down to his pants to open them so that Fuma just had to pull them down before he crawled on top of him again.

“Always your pace, you should know that by now,” he said before kissing him once more to distract him as he moved down between his legs. He wanted to move a hand down, but Kento stopped him bringing it back up. “Kento-“ Fuma started scolding, but Kento just shook his head.

“You said my pace.”

Fuma just growled on Kento’s teasing smile, but if he wanted it this way he wouldn’t start discussing this know, because he would lose against Kento’s arguments in the end anyways.

“Fine, but as I said I don’t want to hear complains.”

“As long as moans are allowed, I’m completely fine with that condition.”

On that Fuma pulled him into another lustful kiss moving one hand down to his hips to lift them up a little bit before he entered him carefully. He could feel how Kento tensed under him, but he didn’t break the kiss. He waited a moment longer before he dared to move again, but Kento rolled his hips almost impatiently, signaling him that he could move even though he hadn’t completely relaxed again.

“You got really good in pretending that it doesn’t hurt.” Fuma scolded him as he held his hips down so that he had no choice, but to relax for a moment.

“And you got better at observing,” he whispered against his lips before he bit on his lower lip trying to move his hips again and this time Fuma responded with a thrust making it impossible for Kento to put his lips back on his even though he desperately tried to do so. After a moment he gave up and threw his head back instead, moving his hands down to Fuma’s hips groping his ass shamelessly.

In response Fuma rose up a little bit to be able to thrust in even deeper and as Kento didn’t stop moaning at all anymore he took him in his hand stroking over his tip, gaining a scolding whine in return.

“Fuma, please…” Kento begged as he tried to stop himself from digging his fingernails into the latter’s skin.

“Don’t be so impatient. Just enjoy it.” Fuma whispered into his ear as he had leant forward again supporting himself with one hand next to his head as he moved his other hand over his full length with a fast pace while picking up pace with his thrust at the same time, making Kento reach his climax sooner than the older one wanted.

Kento tried to calm down his breathing while looking up at Fuma who looked down at him with dark eyes as he wanted to move himself up a little bit again to be able to satisfy his own needs, but Kento wouldn’t let him back off. Instead he grabbed him by the hair to pull him down in a deep kiss and even as Fuma tried to turn away his face as he was obviously about to come and needed some space to breath Kento wouldn’t let him go.

As he couldn’t hold back anymore he reached his climax with a deep moan into the other one's mouth. Kento couldn’t stop his lips from curling up against Fuma’s after that. The younger one sat up giving him a last thrust, making him yelp before he slipped out and dropped next to him on the mat.

“Since when are you enjoying it so much to tease me like this?” Fuma asked scolding, but Kento just grinned at him with this childish smile of his. “Don’t get too cocky or I might leave you unfinished next time.” Fuma warned him, but Kento just raised an eyebrow on that threat.

“Then I might refuse you after that.” He replied triumphing before sticking out his tongue towards Fuma who reached out for him right away to pull him closer.

“You little brat!” Fuma pulled Kento against his chest ignoring how the latter tried to get away from him by twisting himself away so that his back hit his chest in the end. That was also when Fuma stopped moving for a moment and Kento looked over his shoulder, but he didn’t even has to ask what Fuma was looking at. He moved one hand carefully over the burn scar on Kento’s back and for a moment they fell silent.

“I lost my family quite early in the war and had to fight my way through those dark times alone.” Kento started suddenly and Fuma just listened in silence. “I wasn’t the type of person to steal food even though I really needed it and end of the story was that I was on the edge of death, but one day there came a woman giving me food and water without even asking anything in return. She had this unbelievable caring smile and even though she came to bring me food two times a week she never really talked much about herself. She always just asked about me trying to comfort me, telling me that someday everything would get better. I still wonder if she had lost her family in the war as well, because to me she was like my own mother. She was so sweet and caring all the time.”

Kento paused for a moment and Fuma moved one arm around the latter’s upper body to search for his hand to entwine their fingers.

"But then the city was taken over and there were soldiers everywhere. I tried to run through the back alleys as they came, but they started to shoot all the homeless not regarding their gender or age. Before I knew it a grenade exploded right behind me throwing me to the ground with an unbelievable pain all over my back. I screamed and cried unable to get back on my feet. I saw a few others which were lying on the ground as well, but were still alive and as I looked up at the soldiers again they didn’t move forward again. Instead they moved out the alley again, but before they left they threw a few more grenades and one landed right next to me. I looked at it in pure shock completely paralyzed by fear. I can’t even remember when she had shown up, how she had made it in time and especially why she did it, but the next moment the woman had thrown herself over me, protecting me as the explosion followed.”

Fuma didn’t have to ask anything after that. He knew the end of the story anyways, so he pulled Kento closer as he heard how he tried to suppress his sobs.

“She saved you! She decided to do that on her own. There is nothing to be ashamed of.” Fuma whispered soothing and Kento nodded squeezing his hand.

“But I just wonder what would have happened when I would have been able to move. When I wouldn’t have been so afraid. And then I realized that I didn’t even once ask her about her name.” Kento let out a sorrowful chuckle. “She gave me food, she helped me out, a boy she never met before. Just one boy of so many running alone through the city and then she even gives her life to protect me and I didn’t even ask for her name.”

Fuma understood his inner battle, but there was nothing he could say to make it easier. Kento had to learn how to live with this on his own. The only thing he could do was staying by his side to comfort him whenever he needed him by his side.


	5. Chapter 5

“I’m not sure if it is just me, but aren’t we running in circles with what we are doing?” Kentaro asked as they found themselves standing in front of the Reapers’ club again.

“Hey if you have any better idea where to look for Massu, please go ahead and tell us, because I don’t really like this place either, but it is our best shot!” Kochi explained after they had discussed the whole day where they should start looking and after Kochi had analyzed all the information he got from Taiga and Kentaro he figured that when Tegoshi tried his luck with the Exposers that Massu might do the same with the Reapers.

“But what would he want here anyways?” Fuma asked confused as he hadn't spend full attention to their conversation earlier.

“Trust me if we knew that we wouldn’t risk getting into trouble in this club again!” Taiga responded.

“Anyways let’s go in for now and see if we are lucky! If he was here earlier already we might waste our time, but to be honest at the moment I don’t even get what is going on with Tegoshi and Massu, so I can’t really tell what they are doing next and especially why.”

“Great when Kochi already says stuff like this, we might never find him.” Juri said disappointed, but walked after him anyways.

They tried to not draw any attention towards them and the best to do so was by splitting up and even though Taiga was not really found of that idea he agreed after they had formed three groups with the members Taiga had chosen.

“And so why am I going with Kochi again?” Fuma asked kind of sulky after Taiga had told Kento to go with Kentaro and he decided to go with Juri.

“Because Kochi will keep you out of trouble the best!” Taiga responded and pointed at Kentaro next. “As will Kento prevent you from doing something stupid! And I’ll have an eye on Juri so that he won’t do something stupid either.”

“Hey I’m not as bad as Fuma!” Juri complained gaining a death glare from Fuma in response.

“That’s exactly why I’m going with you and not with Fuma."

“Oh now I feel so honored to be allowed to be the watchdog of the most chaotic one.” Kochi said laughing, gaining a slap on the back of his head from Fuma.

“Anyways, stay calm whatever happens and don’t do something stupid even if you see Massu or even Kitayama or someone else, okay? We’ll meet at the bar every time the band takes a break to report if we found out something.” With that Taiga dismissed the groups over the club. Of course Kentaro was going for the VIP floor right away, but Kento tried to hold him back as he was circling around the stairs way too obvious. Fuma was already ordering his first drink at the bar before Kochi could even catch up with him, while Taiga and Juri walked around the dancefloor taking a look around.

“Kento, come on! The more you look around the more they’ll get suspicious!” Kentaro scolded him as they had finally made it upstairs. He dragged Kento towards a corner after he stood next to him like a lost puppy for the last few minutes.

“Sorry, I just don’t really like it to sneak around.”

“And that is exactly why Taiga put you as the millstone around my neck.” Kentaro said more serious than he intended and as Kento didn’t reply he turned towards him. He looked to the ground kind of apologizing, but then Kentaro hit him against the shoulder making him flinch. “Hey, that was a joke!”

Kento just nodded. He was still too tense to take this as relaxed as Kentaro. Sure the other one was used to all those dangerous situations, but Kento was more than nervous about all this, so even as Kentaro signaled him to follow him through the room towards the white couches he couldn’t stop from thinking that he looked suspicious even while just walking around. For a moment he didn’t play full attention to his surroundings trying to avoid looking at anyone. But as he looked up again Kentaro had disappeared out of his sight. They had come on a really crowded day and Kentaro was definitely not that far away, but just the fact that he couldn’t see him made him panic. As a few people almost bumped into him as they were already way too drunk Kento tried to get out of their way making a few steps backwards, but as he turned around he ran into someone and unfortunately this someone’s drink landed on both their clothes through the impact.

“Sorry…” Kento said in an almost inaudible voice as the other one escaped an angry flick of his tongue as he looked on his own wet shirt. “I’m really sorry!” Kento bowed and tried to sneak away, but the other one grabbed him by the sleeve pulling him back.

“Where do you think you are going?”

Kento didn’t dare to answer. The boy standing in front of him was maybe just a few years older than him, but his look gave away that he wouldn’t let him off like this.

“Come with me!” He ordered dragging Kento after him. Kento looked around him panicked trying to find Kentaro, but he still couldn’t see him and he didn’t want to attract any attention by making a scene now. The boy finally stopped at a huge table with a long white couch telling Kento to sit down and seeing how many people were standing around the table it was clear that he had no other choice than to do as he said for now.

“What’s your name?”

“Eh?”

“Are you deaf? Your name!” The boy asked kind of impatient as he sat down next to him telling one of the men to get him a new drink.

“Kento.”

“Kento? Such an innocent name. It fits your appearance pretty much.” The boy said amused before he took two glasses from one of his men handing one to Kento who hesitated to take it.

“Are you not drinking or do you prefer your drink over your shirt again?”

Again Kento bowed lightly on the reminder of his mistake, but the boy just laughed again handing him the drink before holding out his own towards him to touch his glass.

“It has been a long time since I’ve met someone interesting like you in my club! It got kind of boring with the same stupid people around every day.”

“Your club?” Kento asked carefully as the boy emptied half of his glass before leaning back on the couch crossing his legs.

“Oh sorry I forgot to introduce myself, how rude of me. I’m Yamada Ryosuke the owner of this club and the leader of the Reapers.”

Kento had to watch out not to drop his glass on that, if he thought he would have felt nervous until now he knew better after realizing that he had jumped directly into the cage of the lion. But even though he started to feel nauseous as he realized what could happen if he pissed him off and that he could be happy that he didn’t freak out as he had spilled his drink, there was something about Ryosuke that made it hard to believe that he was the head of one of the Titanium Triangle groups. It was not just the fact that he was still that young, but his weird personality. He was way too cheerful for someone who was managing illegal yakuza business and especially he seemed too nice to think of him as a monster like Fujigaya. On the other hand there was this look in his eyes which told Kento to be cautious and don’t test his luck.

“Someone would like to speak to you, boss.” One of the men said making Ryosuke turn towards him with an annoyed look.

“Tell him I’m busy.” He responded annoyed about to turn towards Kento again, but his man stayed next to them looking over to someone waiting a few meters away with his arms crossed in front of his chest, his eyes locked on Ryosuke.

“Shouldn’t you talk to him? I don’t want to interfere in your important business.” Kento explained in a calm voice looking from Ryosuke to his guest and back with a nervous look.

“You are not interfering anything. He is the one who came without an appointment, again!”

“And you are the one who isn’t willing to listen for the third day in a row!” The man finally said making Ryosuke rise to his feet.

“What’s up with all of you at the moment?” Ryosuke asked as he approached his guest looking up at him with a weird smile as he stopped in front of him. “You know even though we are called a triangle doesn’t mean that we have any connections.”

“But you have information and that is all I need.”

“Then ask the Exposers for help. Or didn’t you have the right payment for their boss?” Ryosuke asked with a chuckle and as the other one looked way for a moment Ryosuke clapped his hands laughing. “So you really didn’t have the right payment? Not that I would be surprised! It isn’t easy to pay him after all.”

“So if you know that how about you tell me your price?”

“Oh sorry, but for me it is not about the price, but about the person and I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you are not interesting enough little red head.”

“Yamada, come on there must be a price for the information you have about the Fire Foxes!” The other one almost begged as Ryosuke was about to just turn around. Ryosuke looked up at Kento for a moment, but the latter had frozen to the spot since they have started their conversation not sure if he should even breathe.

“You know what? I’ll give you all the information you want, but as a payment you have to bring me someone interesting.”

“Interesting?” The other one repeated not knowing what exactly he meant.

“Life can be pretty boring and I like it to have fun and that is just possible with the right company.”

“And where should I find a person like that?”

“That’s your problem, not mine. Talk over!” Ryosuke said snapping his finger in front of the other one who growled dangerously, but didn’t reply anything. His look fell on Kento for a moment, but Kento felt awkward enough already so he looked away and a moment later the guest was out of his sight and Ryosuke was about to sit down next to him again, but then there was angry shouting heard from the first floor and Ryosuke rolled his eyes as he stood up again.

“What now?” He asked one of his men who came running upstairs.

“There are a few boys causing uproar downstairs. There is a blond boy at the bar who picked a fight with a few other customers.”

Kento sighed deeply as he rested his face in his palms for a moment. So even Kochi couldn’t keep him away from getting into trouble.

“Would you excuse me?” Ryosuke asked suddenly, making Kento look up again. He just nodded briefly as Ryosuke walked away from the table.

“By the way, I really enjoyed your company.” He added before walking away with his men leaving Kento behind with a weird feeling. The next moment he flinched when he got dragged away from the table suddenly.

“Where the hell were you?” Kentaro asked him as he had dragged them away from all the people towards a corridor at the back.

“Long story, but we have other problems right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“GET THEM!”

Kentaro didn’t have to ask again as he heard people shouting downstairs.

“Fuma?”

“Fuma!” Kento confirmed with a brief nod while Kentaro rolled his eyes.

“So much to Taiga’s awesome group idea. Then let’s get out for now!” Kentaro moved towards the stairs and Kento was right behind him trying to take a look around if he would see Ryosuke or the guest from before, but there were way too many people in the club and through the uproar Fuma had caused there was a huge chaos going on at the first floor.

Fuma and Kochi had already dashed out the club and he couldn’t see Taiga and Juri either, so they also just sneaked out the club pretending to have nothing to do with the whole chaos.

***

“I can’t believe that we didn’t even make it until the first break of the band.” Kentaro said shaking his head as they were on their way back to the school building after their evening had ended with them running through the backstreets getting chased by half of the security for at least half an hour before they finally lost them.

“Next time we’ll make you wait outside.” Taiga growled at them gaining a nod from Kento and Kochi right away.

“Hey I had nothing to do with this!” Juri tried to defend himself and Kentaro nodded approving. “It wasn’t me either this time!”

So in the end all eyes landed on Fuma who didn’t even spend any attention until now.

“What?” He asked perplex, but he just gained a few chuckles and shaking heads before everyone turned away again.

“But maybe we should try to come on a day with less people, because even though Massu is really easy to spot with his read hair, we wouldn’t be able to spot him easily in a crowd like today.” Kochi explained while walking in front, already thinking about a new plan.

“If he will even show up.” Kentaro added worried. “Oh by the way Kento, you didn’t tell me where- Kento?” He stopped walking as he turned towards Kento who was staring at them kind of absentminded.

“Hey, all good?” Fuma asked as he approached him waving with his hand in front of his face. Everyone was now staring at him, but as he realized that he had been the one messing up the most he didn’t know what to say. He let out something between a whine and a chuckle as he crouched down ruffling through his own hair.

“Kento what is it?” Juri asked worried as they all gathered around him.

“I’m so sorry! I should have realized earlier that it could have been him!”

“Who are you talking about?” Fuma asked still as confused by his reaction. Kento stood up again facing them with an apologizing look.

“Massu! I think I just saw him earlier in the club, but because I didn’t know how he looked like I didn’t realize it!” Kento let out, followed by a long sigh before cursing in a low voice for not thinking about that possibility sooner.

“Where did you see him?” Taiga asked.

“He was talking to Ryosuke, the head of the Reapers. I should have known that it was him as he said he wanted information about the Fire Foxes!”

“Wait, you met the head of the Reapers?” Kochi asked disbelieving.

“And you are still alive?” Juri added kind of impressed.

“And why do you know his first name already?” Fuma asked kind of unnecessary making the others look at him judging. “What? It’s an entitled question.”

“No, it’s called jealousy Fuma!” Kochi said grinning, but shut up as Fuma glared at him.

“Guys, back to the topic okay! We just missed our best chance to get more information, just so you know!” Kentaro interfered angry.

“I’m really sorry! If I would have realized it sooner-“

“Hey, it’s okay! We don’t blame you,” Fuma tried to calm him down, but there was some kind of tension between all of them and even though they really didn’t want to blame it on Kento, because they all didn’t realize that Massu was there, the silence of Taiga and the annoyed look of Kentaro made clear that they weren’t really happy about the outcome.

“Let’s get back for now, okay? You can tell us everything later! We have to discuss what we are doing next anyways,” Kochi said before he started walking again and everyone followed him.

“Kentaro where are you going?” Juri asked as they had reached the school ground and Kentaro was turning away from the school building. He stopped, but didn’t turn towards them. He had walked after them in silence until now and he didn’t want them to worry.

“All good, just go inside already. I’ll be with you in a few minutes,” he said over his shoulder before turning towards the gym. First Kochi wanted to shout something after him, but Taiga lifted his arm signaling him to leave him alone for now.

***

It was already quite cold outside and even as Kentaro entered the gym it wasn’t much warmer, but he didn’t really mind. He walked inside the big room until he stood right in the middle. There he stopped and closed his eyes taking a few deep breaths. No he didn’t want to be angry at Kento. It was his own fault to lose sight of him earlier. He was in the same room, just a few meters away and he hadn’t even realized that Massu had been there. It wasn’t Kento he was angry at, but himself. Again he had missed the chance to get one step closer to the answers he was seeking so desperately.

Slowly he walked towards the other side of the room where one old half ripped punching bag was hanging. He stroke over the rough fabric with his hand trying to calm down, but inside of him a huge storm was rampaging over the last two months already and he had enough of running around in the dark, always missing his goal just by inches. He lunged out and hit the punching bag so hard that its rusty chain made an unpleasant shrieking noise. Then he remained silent for a moment, breathing in deep, trying to calm down, but it wouldn’t work. They had come this far and every time they were so close to get more information, to finally find the answers they were looking for something blocked their way. After the next deep breath Kentaro screamed out and kicked the bag with so much force that it ripped open and the sand was trickling to the ground the same way as their hopes were slowly fading away even though Kentaro had sworn not to give up it got harder every day. The next breath he wanted to take was replaced by a shuddering sob, but the next moment arms wrapped around his upper making him flinch out of surprise.

“It’s okay!” Taiga said in a soothing voice as he felt how Kentaro was shaking against his arms. From the moment they had decided to search for Nikaido and Ueda, Taiga had made clear that he wouldn’t keep up his hopes until Ueda was standing right in front of him again. Kentaro on the other hand had been more than convinced that not just Nikaido, but also Ueda had survived and that was also why it hurt Taiga so much to see how Kentaro was slowly losing hope.

“What if I was wrong all the time?” Kentaro asked in a low voice trying to keep his voice steady. He had grabbed Taiga’s sleeve holding on to the other one like if his presence was be the only thing which stopped him from crumbling. “What if I am just too afraid to see that there is no hope?”

“Then we can at least say that we tried everything to find out the truth, even if it might be a cruel one.”

“And I’ll be the one who will make reality even crueler for you, because I tried so desperately to make you believe that they are still alive.”

 Taiga loosened his grip to turn Kentaro around on his shoulders and put his hands to his face to make him look up as he was obviously not willing to do so on his own.

“Don’t say it like you have given up hope! You said we shouldn’t give up before we found answers. How am I supposed to keep up my hopes when you are giving up?”

Kentaro couldn’t even answer something logical anymore, because fact was that he was about to lose hope even though he had promised to himself that he wouldn’t. Being finally so close to the answers they were seeking he got afraid. Afraid of the possibility that he was wrong all along and he wasn’t sure if he could deal with that truth.

“We didn’t give up on you, so you shouldn’t give up on them.”

On the sound of Kochi’s voice both turned towards the door finding the other four boys smiling at them.

“You came this far all on your own, don’t give up now just because you are afraid of the possibility that everything was good for nothing.” As always Kochi had understood the problem right from the start and wasn’t he right? As long as there was hope they had to keep going or they would regret it.

“What if you get hurt as well? What if we will lose someone else on our way?” Kentaro asked in a low voice as the boys approached them.

“Then it will happen.” Fuma said straight forward making Kento look the most worried. “Come on, I would also like to say this will never happen, but we all know in what deep crap we are involved here, so better we stay realistic, right?”

“You have never been the optimistic type, but realistic also doesn’t suit you so much.” Juri said with a teasing smile on which Fuma stretched out his tongue towards him. On that Kentaro finally cracked a faint smile. Fuma stepped closer and pulled Kentaro in a hug and after a moment of confusion Kentaro hugged him back.

“We will make it through this together, okay? We didn’t try to find you to give up after finding just two instead of all four people we were looking for.” Fuma said in a surprising caring voice and the next moment Juri jumped at them trying to hug both of them at the same time.

“Hey I want a hug as well!” Juri said in a sulking voice making the others giggle.

“I would say it’s group hug time then.” Taiga yelled as he hugged Juri trying to spread his arms over Kentaro and Fuma as well. Just seconds later Kento and Kochi joined the chaotic hug and finally Kentaro could relax a little bit again, even though he knew that the real anger would start from now on. But he could think about that tomorrow, for now he tried to forget about what other danger was coming up towards them and enjoy the time with his friends, because he didn’t know when there would be the next time they would all come together again.


	6. Chapter 6

“Then please tell me again why we went to the Exposers’ hideout again after they tried to kill Taiga and the others before?” Fuma asked Kochi with a doubting look as they had arrived at the warehouses where Fukka had been shot.

“You know a better place to search? Massu came to the Reapers already and after what Kento told us about their conversation there shouldn’t be a reason for him to go back there. The Fire Foxes are out of question anyways for now and with Kitayama and Tegoshi being around the Exposers’ hideout as well this is the best chance we have for now!” Kochi explained and even though everyone agreed with him Taiga and Kentaro didn’t look too happy about being here again.

“Who says that they will even be around? Wouldn’t they normally search for a new hideout after someone intruded?” Kento asked looking around worried, but Kochi shook his head.

“As if a troop of the Titanium Triangle would try to hide after some boys have found their hideout.” Kochi said convinced and as he got up, going directly for the door everyone else jumped up, but he had opened the door before anyone could stop him.

“Is he out of his mind?” Taiga asked panicked after Kochi had just went inside and for a moment the other boys didn’t know what to do. But Kochi appeared in the door again the next moment.

“Are you coming?” He asked with a smile before walking inside again.

“Either he is an absolute genius or the biggest idiot of all time,” Fuma said while shaking his head.

“How do we find out?” Kento asked in between being worried and amused.

“If we survive he is a genius, if we die he was an idiot,” Fuma said with a kind of challenging lopsided smile as he followed Kochi with the others.

“Who are you?” Two men in black suits asked them in a way too calm voice as Kochi stopped in front of them with the other boys taking their distance just to be sure.

“We would like to get information about a visitor your boss had a few days ago.”

“And why do you think we would give information to a bunch of kids?”

“Because we have information as well as a payment.”

“Oh and those information would be what?” One of the men asked in an impatient tone, but Kochi didn’t seem to get worried about it at all.

“Information about the Fire Foxes.”

“What the hack is he talking about?” Juri asked Taiga and Kentaro in a low voice, but both boys gave him a questioning look as a reply.

“An what kind of information would that be?”

“Important one, so we will either speak to your boss directly or take our leave,” Kochi answered calm and the two men turned away from him, discussing something before one of them disappeared behind the next corner while the other one stepped back in front of Kochi.

“Two of you are allowed to meet with him, the rest has to stay here.”

Kochi turned towards the others with a weird satisfied smile on which Fuma rolled his eyes.

“Now he is showing off, but let’s wait until he has to give the information he was talking about, because I hope he has a plan B for that moment.”

“Kentaro are you coming?” Kochi asked suddenly and except for Kentaro himself no one seemed surprised that Kochi wanted him to tag along. Kentaro gave Taiga a worried look, but the latter squeezed his shoulder once before he pushed him lightly towards Kochi.

“It will be alright, don’t worry!” Taiga encouraged him and even though Kentaro felt a little bit nauseous about the whole situation he nodded and finally followed the Exposers’ member together with Kochi.

As he looked around he saw that even though it was just a warehouse and not one of their clubs all the members of the troop were dressed in suits. As the man told them to wait, Kentaro realized that this was the place where Kitayama and Tegoshi had to wait before as well and for a moment he feared that the others would try to sneak up to the second floor to follow their conversation, but as long as Taiga was with them he knew that they wouldn’t do something stupid.

“I get a lot of visitors from or about the Fire Foxes lately. Let them come over, I really would like to hear what those ones want to know,” they heard someone say and even though his voice sounded really gentle Kentaro had the feeling that if they pissed him off it would be the last thing they would ever do.

The man from before stepped up to them again and told them to follow him and while Kochi looked as relaxed as always, Kentaro had to try hard to stay calm. This was after all their only chance to get more information about what was going on regarding Tegoshi and the others.

“Hello boys!” The leader of the Exposers greeted them with a bright, but also dangerous smile as he sat on his chair with crossed legs. “What brings you to me?”

Kentaro hesitated a little bit as he tried to not look directly into his eyes, but as he looked up at Kochi the boy was looking at him instead of the leader. Now the last calm part inside of Kentaro was gone as he realized that Kochi wanted him to do the talking. First he didn’t realize why he would let him handle something that Kochi could normally handle the best, but as he looked up at the leader again he realized that he was staring at him.

Of course Kochi had noticed right away that the leader had chosen with his look right from the beginning who he wanted to talk to, so he nodded towards Kentaro with a calm expression and finally Kentaro took a deep breath stepping to the front.

“We would like to ask for some information about two people which came here lately.”

“And those people would be?”

“Kitayama of the Fire Foxes and the person he brought, Tegoshi.”

On the names the leader suddenly stood up and approached Kentaro, who made a step back intuitively, but stopped himself from stepping back further even as the other one stopped way too close in front of him. For a moment no one said a word before the leader leant down to him with a dangerous smile.

“So you were the little rats which sneaked in here last time!”

Kentaro bit his lip as he realized that he had blown their cover through his direct question. That was why he wanted Kochi to handle the talking part. But now it was too late and luckily the other one stepped away with a chuckle before he sat down again.

“What can you give me in return?”

“Information,” Kentaro answered right away, even though he still didn’t know if Kochi wasn’t lying after all.

“Boring.”

Kentaro was out of words after the direct denial of their payment. He looked at Kochi, but the boy didn't even looked startled by the denial. So he had lied after all, because he had been sure that information wouldn't be the right payment in the first place.

“What would you accept in return?” Kentaro asked carefully. He wasn’t ready to give up this easily.

For a moment the leader didn’t say something, but looked around the room with a thoughtful and somehow playful look before he faced Kentaro with a smile again.

“Give me something entertaining, something that I will remember. You know life in the Underground can be way too strict and too boring sometimes. So what are you offering me?”

Kentaro thought about his answer carefully this time, because he knew that if he wouldn’t find a good payment there was no way for him to get any information at all.

“Don’t worry, I bet I have answers for you which you are more than burning for to hear,” The other one added as he saw Kentaro’s worried look. But now he was even more confused, but something on the leaders face had just made the small piece of hope in his chest bigger again.

“KAMENASHI-SAMA!” One of the other man interrupted them yelling.

“What? You are interrupting at a really bad moment!” Kamenashi shot at his man and even though the other one looked almost panicked, the leader’s expression was still calm.

“We have a huge uproar at our main club, it is on fire and it seems like the Fire Foxes are involved.”

“What an intelligent way of those stupid foxes to make clear who caused this uproar. Fujigaya will never learn.”

Kentaro needed a moment to catch up with Kamenashi’s words, but the next moment he was already dashing towards the exit ignoring Kochi’s shouting behind him. He dashed out the main door and ran passed the other boys which had waited for them outside.

“Hey, Kentaro! Kentaro, wait!” Taiga shouted after him, but the boy was already gone the next second.

“Are we going after him?” Kento asked unsure of what to do until Kochi appeared in the door as well. He just slowed down a little bit as he passed everyone.

“Follow me! We have to hurry!” He shouted at everyone and luckily the all started running first before asking questions.

“Damnit Kochi, what is going on?” Taiga finally asked as they tried to catch up to Kentaro.

“The Fire Foxes have attacked the Exposers’ main club and their leader had just said that it was Fujigaya’s doing.”

Taiga had to watch out not to stumble as his thoughts were racing after hearing his name again. So he was alive after all, but unfortunately that couldn’t make him hope for anything good, because that just meant that he had made it out the club with Kitayama, but there was no reason to believe that the other survivers were their protectors.

“There he is!” Juri shouted suddenly, making Taiga wake up from his thoughts. They had caught up to Kentaro just in time before they had reached the club. There were customers running around the streets and still people coming out the building which was about to collapse in no time as the flames were already bursting through the windows.

“Kentaro, wait!” Kochi tried to stop him as he ran into the building, but the next moment Taiga passed him as well and he let out an annoyed growl. “Will anyone ever listen to me?”

Juri put his hand on his shoulder with a teasing smile. “Not in this life my friend.” After that Juri dashed after them as well followed by Fuma. Kochi and Kento remained at the entrance for a moment taking a look around.

“Is it really a good idea for all of us to go inside?” Kento asked worried even though he would love to rush after Fuma and the others to help them. But truth was that the building was really instable already and there was no proof that there were still members of the Fire Foxes inside.

“Let’s take a look around carefully first! If they already got out they might still be around!” Kochi said as a conclusion and both left for the side alleys.

Kentaro had found his way to the main hall right away as he remembered everything from the last time they came here and as he had hoped there were still members of the Fire Foxes inside fighting with the men of Kamenashi. He dashed through the room followed by Taiga, but it got already hard to breath as the fire got completely out of control.

“Juri, watch out!” Fuma pulled the other one away from a burning pole right in time as it crushed to the ground, but now their way towards the main hall was blocked an they couldn’t follow the other two.

“Let’s see if we can find another entrance towards the main hall!” Fuma shouted as he dashed backwards through the corridor.

In the meanwhile Kentaro and Taiga had made it almost through the complete hall, but it seemed like the Exposers’ men had everything under control as most of the Fire Foxes' members were already running out the building.

“This coward, I can’t believe that he starts something like this and doesn’t show up himself!” Kentaro cursed as he couldn’t see Fujigaya anywhere.

“Maybe he is outside already, but it seems like Kochi and Kento didn’t come after us, so they might take a look around outside.

“Then let’s join them, I won’t let him get away!” Kentaro said and he put his sleeve up to his mouth, because he already felt dizzy to the smoke. He was more than determined to finally bring this whole mess to an end and as one of the remaining Fire Foxes’ members attacked him he countered so fast and accurate that he got an approving whistle from Taiga in return.

“You know if you would be a little bit taller, you could really become Nikaido No.2.”

“But as long as we have one Nikaido, there is luckily no need for another one.” Kentaro replied with a smile as he turned around to him.

“This is the spirit I wanted to hear from you!” Taiga replied smiling, but his smile vanished immediately as he saw the change in Kentaro’s eyes the moment he had turned towards him and what made him panic even more was that he looked passed him.

“To be honest you are the last people I would have expected here.” The person behind Taiga said and Taiga froze on the sound of his voice. He carefully turned around to face Kitayama standing just a few meters away from them pointing a gun at him.

Another Fire Foxes’ member approached them, but Kitayama ordered him to leave the building as fast as possible and retread for now. He looked after him with a kind of weird expression before he faced the boys again. They were the last people remaining and the fire made more and more of the ceiling crumble and the smoke made it hard for all of them to breath. 

“What did you want at the Exposers’ hideout and what do you have to do with Tegoshi?” Kentaro asked with a steady voice, even though he wanted to ask another question, but fear had made him refer from this one for now.

“Who?”

“Don’t give me this shit, we know it was you!” Kentaro hissed at him and he was about to make a step forward as Taiga suddenly fell to his knees in front of him.

“TAIGA!” He wanted to reach out for him, but Kitayama pointed the gun up to him so that he stopped. Taiga’s breathing had turned painfully through the smoke and it was obvious that he couldn't fight anymore. Kentaro also felt how he started to feel dizzy, but the same seemed to apply for Kitayama.

“And again we are in a burning building, isn’t this kind of nostalgic? But don’t worry this time it will be different!” Kitayama said with a weird expression, but Kentaro couldn’t even keep up with their conversation anymore as he had to try not to lose balance. But Kitayama had also his problems and as he lowered his gun approaching Taiga, Kentaro tried to interfere. But as he tried to punch him, Kitayama blocked his attack easily and Kentaro lost balance the next moment falling to the ground coughing without Kitayama needing to attack him. As he wanted to approach Kentaro this time, Taiga grabbed his leg stopping him.

“Leave him alone!” He shouted between his coughing, even though it was more than clear that he couldn’t even get back on his feet.

“Oh aren’t you two cute. As overprotective of each other as always. But don’t worry, I still owe someone too much to just leave you here!”

The next time he approached Kentaro, Taiga couldn’t even lift his arm to stop him anymore, but the next moment he heard people screaming out for them from another entrance of the hall and he was sure that it were Juri’s and Fuma’s voices, but he couldn’t see clearly anymore and as he saw more people than just their friends enter the room he didn’t even try to make sense out of the situation anymore. One of them approached them the moment Kitayama lifted Kentaro up in his arms even though the man had to struggle with his own stamina as well.

“Will you be okay?” The person which had approached them asked and turned towards Taiga as Kitayama nodded and started walking towards the exit where Fuma and Juri helped him with Kentaro.

“You are really some troublemakers, you know that?” The other one said as he lifted Taiga up in his arms and the next moment the boy’s eye escaped a tear, as he was sure that he started to hallucinate through the smoke. But if hallucination, dream or reality, he could worry about that later, for now he rested in his arms as relieved and safe as he thought he would never feel again.


	7. Chapter 7

 

Taiga let his eyes shut forcefully as he realized right away that someone was lying next to him as he woke up. He took another deep breath before he finally dared to open his eyes, but he didn’t look up to the other one's face. With shaking fingers he lifted his hand carefully to put it on the other's chest, feeling the warmth of his skin and on the vibrating sound of his heartbeat he let out a bitter chuckle.

“What is it?” The other one asked in a caring voice, which made it even worse for the boy as he waited for everything to collapse again.

“I’m waiting for the nightmare to start,” Taiga let out in a low voice, trying to enjoy this peaceful moment as long as possible, but then the other one suddenly chuckled and put his hand carefully on his cheek. On his touch Taiga closed his eyes, afraid of what cruel happenings this nightmare would have prepared for him, but as nothing happened he got even more stressed.

“Taiga?” He asked carefully as the boy clenched his fists in the older one’s shirt. Slowly he realized that something was different than usual, but he didn’t dare to put up his hopes. Reality had been too cruel to him over the last months to believe in faith anymore. He didn’t even try to hide his sobs as he rested his forehead against the older one's chest trapped between the fear that all this was a the worst nightmare he ever had and the hope that the small spark of hope he had treasured in his heart and that had made him move forward had finally turned into reality.

“Please don’t leave! Ueda, please don't leave again!” He whispered between his sobs and even though the latter didn’t move he feared that he would be gone the next second. The other one kissed him on the hair the next moment and stroked over his cheek carefully as he made the boy finally look up at him.

“I made you wait long enough, I won’t disappear in front of you ever again,” Ueda said with the most beautiful smile Taiga had ever seen and he reached out for him right away to pull him into a kiss. His warm lips on his made him finally realize that this was indeed real and he could finally let all the worries of the last months behind him.

“Are Kentaro and the others okay as well?” Taiga asked as he finally realized that he had other things to worry about as well.

“Don’t worry they are all okay, no one of our people got hurt yesterday.”

“I bet Kentaro is the happiest person alive at the moment,” Taiga said with a smile as he sat up wanting to see everyone, but as Ueda remained on the bed, he looked down at him with a worried expression.

“What is it?”

“You know, about Nikaido…” Ueda started carefully and Taiga could already see that he didn't like what he would hear next.

***

Kentaro woke up with a breaking headache and as he realized that he didn’t know where he was he sat up panicked. He tried to recall everything that had happened and as he couldn’t really make sense out of everything that occurred the day before he jumped up and headed for the door, but before he reached it, someone opened it from the outside and stepped in.

“Oh you are already awake, how are you feeling?”

Kentaro lunged out for a punch before he could even catch up with his own actions, but of course the other one blocked it.

“You know something like ‘thanks for saving my life’ would be way more suitable than hitting me!” Kitayama said with a calm expression, but Kentaro just stepped back and looked at him with a hateful glare.

“Sure because you rescued us out of what? Guilt? Fun? As if I would ever trust you again!” Kentaro hissed at him clenching his fists as he felt the urge to hit him again right away.

“Don’t worry, I won’t ask for forgiveness nor for your trust. I had my chance and I didn’t take it.”

First Kentaro wanted to ask what he meant, but he didn’t want to care for Kitayama’s reasons or feelings. He had betrayed him and not even saving his life would make up for that.

“Where is he?” Kentaro asked directly this time, knowing that Kitayama would understand right away. While Taiga had been almost unconscious in the end, Kentaro had been still aware of his surrounding and even though he was more than happy for Taiga on one hand, there was still one person missing. But Kitayama faced the ground and even though Kentaro had decided to not care for his feelings the guilt he suddenly saw on his face made him almost crumble.

“Kentaro, you know-“

“WHERE IS HE?” Kentaro yelled as Kitayama was obviously not giving him the answer he wanted to hear. Kitayama took a deep breath as he looked up at the boy and shook his head slowly.

“I’m sorry.”

“No…” Kentaro let out with a shuddering breath before he sank to the ground. He had been the one who had hoped from the very beginning, who didn’t want to give up and even though he had reached his limits on his way he had kept fighting until the very end, to receive the one answer he was so afraid to hear. “This can’t be true.”

“I’m sorry. I know it must be hard for you, but-“

“SHUT UP! OUT, NOW!” Kentaro screamed at him. He couldn’t deal with the latter being all this caring all of a sudden and at the moment there were so many thoughts racing in his head that he didn’t want anyone to be around.

Kitayama just nodded as he walked over to the door. He turned towards the boy once more and his look said that there was something else he wanted to tell him, but Kentaro wasn't willing to listen to anything or anyone for now. Just for this one time he wanted to be allowed to finally crumble, because after all there was nothing left to fight for anymore, right? Which meant he had to reach a decision and whichever path he chose he knew that at least Taiga would understand his decision.

***

“Doesn’t all of this sound weird to you?” Kochi asked after a moment of silence. Tegoshi and Massu had told them at least a rough summary of what had happened, but nothing would really make any sense to them at all. Kochi and Kento and bumped into Ueda and the rest in the backstreets at the burning club and as they told them that Taiga and Kentaro were inside, they rushed inside as well, finding Juri and Fuma on their way. But all the explanations had to wait until now and there was a lot to explain.

“We weren’t part of this story at all, so of course there are a few parts which are not making sense to us,” Juri said, trying to deal with the cruel reality, but Kochi shook his head as he got up, walking through the big room which was the meeting space of Ueda, Tegoshi, Massu and sometimes Kitayama for the last months. They had searched themselves an old building with a few rooms on the second floor which they turned into their living quarters from where they had acted over the time.

“Kitayama helping Ueda get away after they had made it out of the flames, because Nikaido got him out, okay! Ueda not coming back to the club, because he feared to cause trouble when the Fire Foxes would realize that he was still alive, also okay. Tegoshi finding first Massu and then both of them finding Ueda, also somehow reasonable. Kitayama helping Tegoshi to get to Kamenashi, even though he is in a hostile yakuza troop with the reason to help the Titanium Triangle from breaking, not that believable anymore. Nikaido dying in this fucking fire, because he ran inside again to get Shige and the others out after he had already rescued three people, not okay at all!”

“Yes not okay, but unfortunately reality!” Fuma said in a low voice. He could understand the struggle of his friend, because he didn’t want to believe it either, but what Kochi was doing was not analyzing anymore, but running away from reality what they all would have liked to do at the moment.

“How did he react?” Tegoshi which walked downstairs towards the room with Massu asked Kitayama which followed them with a worried look. Kitayama shook his head with a bitter smile as he stepped into the room, but remained at the doorframe and leant back.

“He threw me out of the room, not that he wouldn’t have done so out of other reasons as well.”

“Be happy that we are not throwing you through the next window, because we would have seriously every right to do so!” Fuma hissed at him in a dangerous voice and no one even tried to calm him down. After all he had killed Senga and no matter out of which reasons he has changed, that would never be forgotten not by Fuma or the others.

And although Massu and Tegoshi had worked together with him for the last months they could see that Tegoshi would also never trust him completely and everyone knew that this was for the best. The member of the Titanium Triangle were unpredictable and Kitayama had shown them that before, no one could guarantee that he wouldn’t stab them in the back again.

The next moment they heard someone shouting and fast steps on the upper floor. Then another door opened and got shut with a loud slam again before they heard footsteps on the stairs. Half of the stairs weren’t visible, but on the middle they made a turn to the open living room where their meeting space was located and the next moment Taiga stormed down the stairs followed by Ueda. Kitayama stepped to the side right away and took a few steps back and all the looks rested on Taiga ans Ueda. 

“Taiga, calm own.”

“Calm down? He is gone for god’s sake! I bet he jumped out the window, so none of you noticed!” Taiga yelled at Ueda as he stopped in the middle of the room, looking at the older ones with a threatening look before he turned towards Kitayama and approached him with fast steps and took him by the collar. “How dare you lie to him!”

“What are we talking about here?” Kitayama asked kind of confused, but gained a mocking chuckle from Taiga as a response. As Taiga lunged out for a punch the next moment everyone fell silent as it hit on Kitayama’s face. Sure it hadn’t been that hard, but the fact alone that Kitayama seemed to perplex to even dodge made clear that something was definitely not right.

“What I am talking about? You told Kentaro that Nikaido is dead! Do you even know what you have done?”

Kitayama’s eyes wandered towards Ueda the next moment and that was the proof Taiga had needed.

“Don’t look at him like this, he told me the same lie yaou told Kentaro, but luckily Ueda is a really bad liar!”

“Taiga, what are you talking about?” Kochi asked with a hint of hope in his voice as everyone got up and faced him with a tense atmosphere filling the room.

“Nikaido isn’t dead!”

“Taiga, please-“ Ueda tried to stop him, but Taiga gave him a death glare and finally the latter gave up and not even Kitayama tried to interfere anymore.

“We didn’t tell you all the details, but as we saw Kitayama with Tegoshi at the Exposers’ hideout, he said that he brought Tegoshi, because he still had to repay a debt. But Ueda told me that Kitayama had already rescued him from getting caught by the police as a payback for Nikaido saving his life. But then he suddenly joins with all of you and wants to repay a dead person? Sorry, but you are definitely not one of the persons who would go that far!”

“So what happened then?” Juri asked confused and Taiga turned towards Ueda and the others, waiting for an explanation, but no one really dared to answer.

“Now it all makes sense!” Kochi finally announced making everyone look at him. “You want my version? Nikaido survived as well, but he knew that no one of us would be safe when he returned to the club, so he asked Kitayama to get Ueda out of there and because he owned him his life he did it and Nikaido stayed behind at his troop together with Fujigaya. Ueda on the other hand didn’t want to return without Nikaido and tried to find him afterwards, but it wasn’t as easy as he thought with the Fire Foxes changing their hideout and without contacts to the yakuza. Luck was with him as Tegoshi and Massu found him, so he had more help. And he also had Kitayama who knew where to look and how to ask for information. Why he is still helping you is not really making sense to me, but important things first! An now that you realized that we are not willing to back out of this you tried to make us believe that Nikaido is dead, so we would stop looking an return to the club so we would be out of danger.”

Everyone stared at Kochi for a moment, but the silence made also clear that he got all the rough pieces together correctly.

“Is he alive?” Taiga asked once more and this time everyone’s eyes rested on Kitayama who let out a long sigh as he finally gave up.

“He’s so going to kill me for not being able to make you believe that he is dead.”

“Wait, he asked you to tell us this lie?” Taiga asked perplex.

“Sure it makes sense, he didn’t want Kentaro to get dragged into this mess in the first place. I bet he doesn’t even know that you are working together with Ueda and the others. You are just informing him about their movements making him believe that they are all out of danger.” Kochi said as a conclusion and hit right again.

“And through that he turned everything into the worst!” Taiga said as he got restless on their long conversation. “We have to find Kentaro as fast as possible!”

“He just needs some space I guess and as soon as we find him we tell him that Nikaido is alive!” Massu suggested, but Taiga shook his head.

“It will be too late if we wait, because he won’t come back.”

“What do you mean?” Fuma asked worried as he slowly realized in which direction this conversation was going.

“Over those months as we searched for Ueda and Nikaido we gave each other a promise, a quite heavy one.”

“Taiga, come to the point!” Kochi asked impatient as he stepped towards the door already, ready to dash out with the others.

“When the worst case would come true and our protector were dead, we wouldn’t stop the other one from following him if he wanted to.”

A heavy silence followed and Ueda looked the most shocked as he realized what they had done with their lie and what Taiga would have done if he died in the fire.

“Come on everyone, get a grip! It’s still not too late, let’s go find him!” Kochi shouted so that the others also finally took action and they rushed out the building to search for him. Even Kitayama joined them, knowing that he had made things even worse through carrying out Nikaido’s request.

***

There had been this first moment in which his world has crumbled and he had thought he had lost everything in this world. He had believed him and he had broken down for real, but the moment he had finally calmed down again and Kitayama had left the room, he tried to put all the pieces together again and that was when he realized that there was still hope. Something on the guilt showing on Kitayama's face had felt weird and now he needed answers more than ever before. He hadn’t lost time as he had climbed out the window and ran over to the one place he could get the information he needed. The only person who could tell him what was actually going on inside the Titanium Triangle at the moment. And so he found himself in front of the Exposers’ hideout again.

“I had the feeling that I would see you again.” Kamenashi greeted him with the same smile as before. “You want to continue our conversation from before?”

“I just need to know one thing to be honest.”

“I’ll promise to give you any information you are seeking, as long as you give me an interesting payment.”

But this time Kentaro wouldn’t get nervous on his request, because he had planned this through. The question was just if Kamenashi would like his payment or not.

“Do you have a radio?” Kentaro asked and even though Kamenashi seemed a little bit confused at first, his look changed into pure excitement right away as he ordered one of his man to bring a radio.

“Now I’m curious, for what do you need a radio?”

“How about you wait and see?” Kentaro asked in response and he knew that he had perfectly hit Kamenashi’s excitement spot with his behavior. He wanted something interesting then he shouldn’t get any information about what was going to happen.

The man came back with a radio right away and placed it on a table next to Kentaro who searched for a song right away. He lost no time as he had found the perfect song and walked up in front of Kamenashi who followed every move of him with an excited smile on his face.

As always Kentaro got in his start position and even though he loved it the most to dance for Nikaido, he knew that he had to give his best for Nikaido this time even though he couldn’t see him. As he started to move, he tried to give his dance as many emotions as possible and even though he was too concentrated to look at Kamenashi he had the feeling that he had chosen a good payment. As longer he danced the more he remembered the times he had danced before, but as he recalled the moment when Nikaido had asked him to dance for him the first time his dancing changed. He was still concentrated, but he could feel how his emotions took over his dancing and it didn’t take long until he felt a tear rolling down his cheek, but he wouldn’t get distracted by it. Dancing was after all his way of showing his emotions and at the moment he felt way too much to be able to keep it locked inside.

As the song ended and Kentaro froze in his last position for a moment a few more tears fell to the ground before he finally dared to move again. What confused him though was the look in Kamenashi’s eyes. After he had shown so much excitement before he was now showing an expression which showed a mixture of sorrow and sympathy. For a moment Kentaro feared that he had chosen the wrong payment, but then Kamenashi got up and hugged him. After he had seen Kamenashi’s calm and excited side before already and he knew that he had a dangerous side as well, he could feel his caring side this time and he was sure that there were not many people who would get to see it. Kentaro was one hundred percent sure that  Kamenashi’s comfort was real as he stroke over his hair and let him calm down in his arms for a while longer before he backed off and took his face in his hands to smile at him.

“Don’t cry, it’s okay!” Kamenashi said in a sweet voice, but Kentaro couldn’t calm down just like this and of course Kamenashi knew that. “The next tears you will share are hopefully tears of joy, because the answer is yes.”

“The answer to what question?” Kentaro asked carefully as he had learned to not interpret anything before not knowing what people were talking about.

“You wanted to know if Nikaido is still alive, right? The answer is yes!”

Kentaro would never be able to describe what he had felt on Kamenashi’s words, because yes he hadn’t given up hope and had tried to believe all the time, but of course there was this fear deep in his chest that all his hopes were good for nothing. So the next tear which slipped over his eyelid and reached the ground at the same moment as Kentaro dropped to his knees, was indeed a tear full of joy and relief and so many other emotions he couldn’t even put into words.

Kamenashi crouched down in front of him to wipe away the next tear from his cheek before he smiled at him again.

“You are an unbelievable brave boy, you know that? I can’t even blame Nikaido for trying to keep you safe through such a cruel lie.” Kamenashi said and waited until Kentaro slowly got a grip on himself again and looked up to the leader. “As I met Nikaido back in the days as he was Fujigaya’s right hand I already felt that he had something hidden behind this mask of stone. But in our world caring emotions can bring you in huge trouble and with Yoko opening up to him about his worries about his friend everything went wrong in the worst way.”

Kentaro hadn’t interrupted him and he was still looking at him with a concentrated look, but Kamenashi didn’t seem willing to explain more details as he put his hand on the boy’s hair with a smile.

“Kentaro!” Kochi and Taiga came running around the corner, but stopped as Kentaro turned towards them. He didn’t smile, but they could see that he had gotten the answers Taiga wanted to give him earlier already. Kamenashi got up and helped Kentaro to his feet as well before he put his hands on his shoulders to make him face him again.

“You should hear the rest of the story from someone who was involved directly! And don't be afraid, you don't have to go and rescue Nikaido alone.”

First Kentaro thought that he meant his friends, but something told him that he didn’t mean them and if he interpreted everything right then that would mean he had just turned the Titanium Triangle upside down without knowing how.

“Why would you want to help me? You are not enemies, right?” Kentaro asked carefully.

“Right the Titanium Triangle was formed to prevent the yakuza troops to break into war, so officially we are allies, but Fujigaya changed over the time and as more power he gained the more unpredictable he turned.”

Kentaro could just nod on that, because he had experienced how Fujigaya was using his power and even though he hadn’t imagine Nikaido waiting for him somewhere and greet him with open arms so that they could just go back, everything turned out to be more complicated and dangerous than he thought.

“And you gave me the most interesting payment I’ve ever received, so I thought I might give you a little bit more for it than just an answer to a question.”

“And how are you planning on helping us?” Kochi asked this time as he stepped next to Kentaro with Taiga at his side.

“First you have to get one more person on your side or we won’t stand a chance against the Fire Foxes. If we attack like this, we will get outnumbered.”

“And who shall we ask?” Taiga asked even though he was almost sure of the answer already.

“The leader of the Reapers, Yamada Ryosuke.”

The three looked at each other with a worried look, but Kamenashi just chuckled. “Don’t lose hope before you’ve even tried. If you have a good payment for him as well he might be easily convinced. It’s not like he would be fond of the Fire Foxes, he has his own past with them and with Nikaido as well.”

Kentaro’s look changed on what Kamenashi had just said. Everyone who could give him information about Nikaido’s past at the moment would make it easier for him to understand what was going on. “But something tells me that the same payment wouldn’t work for him, right?” Kentaro asked and knew already on Kamenashi’s look that he was right.

“He likes interesting company, so you might send someone who can entertain him, he gets bored quite easily. But be aware that he may be quite young for a leader, but he is dangerous as well and whoever you choose should be prepared to give more than just words as payment.”

“Easier said than done.” Kentaro said kind of down, but Kochi clapped him on the shoulder with a smile.

“Let’s not give up before we’ve even started. We’ve come this far, let’s give it our best until the very end!”

Kentaro looked towards Taiga first who gave him an encouraging nod and finally his worries changed into hope. The hope of finally being able to rescue Nikaido from the shadows of his past.


	8. Chapter 8

 

“Of course Kochi found him, who else!” Fuma said kind of disappointed after he had come back to the hideout with Juri and Kento to see if someone had already found Kentaro and of course a grinning Kochi was awaiting him already. “You could have told us from the beginning that you knew where to look.”

“I didn’t know it, I just guessed it!” Kochi said with a smirk on which Fuma gave him a smack on the back on his head before he sat down on the bank at the wooden table on which’s other side Taiga and Kentaro were sitting.

“I go and take a look if I can find the others and bring them back or they will still be out searching for you the whole night.” Juri announced turning towards the door.

“Wait, I’ll come with you!” Kochi said jumping up. “We’re back as soon as possible! We have to discuss what we do about Ryosuke as soon as we are all back,” he said towards Kentaro who just nodded putting his face in his palms for a moment after the two boys had left the house.

“Ryosuke?” Fuma asked confused as no one seemed willing to explain it.

“Our next big problem, but also a good chance to get Nikaido out of there,” Taiga explained while Kentaro still didn’t seem in talking mood since they had got all the information from Kamenashi.

“Wait, Ryosuke as in the leader of the Reapers?” Kento asked to everyone’s surprise.

“Yes...Oh right, you met him before, right? That might make it a little bit easier!”

Kento gave Fuma a short glance as he snorted on Taiga’s words, but the latter just rolled his eyes.

“Fuma, I am not telling him to run into the Reapers’ hideout himself and get answers out of him, I just mean it will be easier to recognize him."

“Whatever, as long as I am with him it will be fine anyways,” Fuma groaned and stood up leaving for the second floor without another word making Kento stare after him with a worried expression.

The next one to stand up without another word was Kentaro and he also obviously aimed for his room.

“Hey, all good?” Taiga asked ready to jump up, but Kentaro turned towards them with a faint smile.

“Don’t worry, I won’t jump out the window again, if that is what worries you!” Kentaro said trying to brighten up the mood, but he was the only one who chuckled on his own words. “I am just not in the mood to wait for the others to return. I am tired, so I will go to sleep, we can speak about all the details tomorrow morning. Good night.”

“Good night.” Kento replied while Taiga just stared after him until he had turned around the corner at the second floor.

“Not in the mood to wait for the others? More like not in the mood to rip Kitayama into pieces,” Taiga said in a low voice putting his elbows on the table rubbing his temples and closing his eyes for a moment.

“He is unbelievable strong, isn’t he?” Kento asked suddenly, making Taiga look at him in confusion. “I mean he has every right to be more than just angry at Kitayama for telling him such a lie, not to forget that he killed one of our friends and brought this whole mess upon us in the first place. But even though he could wait here and freak out at him as he clearly would love to, he tries to calm down and stay low, to concentrate on the important points.”

Taiga nodded slowly realizing that Kento was completely right. Over the last months they both had taken a lot of risks, but now that Kentaro saw that Taiga was finally reunited with Ueda and that he could also finally find Nikaido the boy has collected all his patience to sit still and not mess up in front of the finish line.

“By the way, I would like to ask you something if you don't mind!?” Kento continued after a moment of silence and Taiga could see how the boy shifted nervously.

“What would that be?” Taiga asked curious leaning forward over the table a little bit to be able to speak in a lower voice, because he was sure that whatever it was Kento hadn’t ask earlier because he didn’t want Fuma to know.

“I need some advice.”

“About what?”

“About Ryosuke!”

***

“Are you sleeping already?” Kento asked in a low voice as he stepped in the dark room after the others had finally returned. There had been heavy clouds the whole day and almost no light found its way into the small room with the old mattress as its only furniture on which Fuma was lying with his arms crossed behind his head and Kento was sure that he was staring at the ceiling even though he couldn’t clearly see him.

As it was clear that he wouldn’t get an answer he walked over to him and sat down on the mattress and Fuma made space for him so he could lie down as well. But while Kento turned on his side to look at the younger one, Fuma kept staring at the ceiling.

“Are you angry at me?” Kento asked in an apologizing voice.

“Angry, yes! At you, no!”

“Now you are lying!”

On Kento’s direct words Fuma finally turned to face him and even though it was hard to see the change on his face in the dark room Kento knew that at least now he had made him angry.

“Why would I?”

“Because you are always trying to hide between your everything-is-alright attitude when something bothers you and right now it bothers you that Kentaro wants to meet with Ryosuke.”

No answer from Fuma was giving Kento the answer he already knew of. Kento reached out for his arm, but Fuma turned away from him. For a moment they remained silent, but then Kento shifted closer leaning his forehead against the latter’s back.

“I am really not angry at you!” Fuma suddenly continued and Kento listened in silent. “I am just...over-challenged with the situation. We risked so much to find those idiots and now that we have come this far there is still one missing and to get to him we have to risk way more than I want to! I don’t want to get back to the Reapers, I don’t want you to be at that place again, I don’t want anyone in danger anymore. I’ve lost Hokuto and because of me Senga got killed! I can’t lose anyone anymore!”

It was hard for Kento to stay silent and wait until Fuma was finished with drowning in self despair. He never liked it when Fuma burdened himself with all those problems which weren't his fault in the first place.

Slowly Kento moved his arms around Fuma’s upper body and the younger one entwined his fingers with his. Kento let out a long breath as he realized how much Fuma’s hands were shaking, but then Fuma chuckled, but it wasn’t amusement what was heard in his voice, more like a silent self-accusation.

“If Taiga or Kentaro heard that they would definitely punch me! They went through hell over those past months and here I am thinking I would have the right to complain!”

“Can I stop you now?” Kento finally interrupted him and Fuma took a shaking breath, but didn’t continue. “First, you have all the right of the world to be worried, because we all are! I worry for you and for all the others each time we step out on those dangerous territories. Second, you are not at fault for Senga’s death and I’ve told you so a thousand’s times already and so did Nikaido before! Third, if Kentaro or Taiga punches you I make sure to kick them off a fucking cliff!”

The chuckle which escaped Fuma this time was actually making Kento smile and as Fuma turned around in his arms he could see a faint smile on his lips as well. Sure he wouldn’t be easily convinced that everything would turn out okay, because truth was that they didn’t know what would happen next and if they would lose someone again, but they all were here on their own free will.

“Just promise me you won’t do something stupid!” Fuma whispered as he put his forehead against Kento’s, stroking with his hand over his cheek. Normally Kento would have laughed now and hit Fuma, because yes normally that was a really stupid thing to ask of him. He was the careful type after all, but now he was just happy that Fuma had his eyes closed and couldn’t see his worried expression.

“Nothing stupid, just what is necessary to help Kentaro as good as possible.”

Fuma backed off a little bit to look at him, but as he wanted to ask what he meant Kento shut him up with a kiss. And luckily Fuma seemed more than pleased about the sudden interruption of their conversation.

Kento pulled him closer again and Fuma moved his hands to his hair, but he kept the kiss soft not trying to ruin the atmosphere. Kento played with a strain of Fuma’s hair hanging on his neck while they parted for air, but refused to back off more than necessary.

“Let’s sleep for now, we will need all our mental and physical strength for tomorrow,” Kento whispered against the other one’s lips and instead of an answer he got another short, but intense kiss before Fuma pulled him into his embrace.

“Don’t worry, I have enough strength for both of us.”

“And a short temper, which makes it necessary for you to have this strength,” Kento replied teasing, but let out a whine when Fuma pinched him into the arm.

 ***

 “Would you stop asking me so many things in the morning? I already have a headache thanks to you.”

As Taiga and Ueda stepped into the meeting room they found Massu with his head down on the table and a really amused looking Juri on the opposite side of the table. Next to him Kochi was sitting on his knees leaning over the table now reaching out for Massu to shake him on the shoulder. “Hey, don’t back out now! You still haven’t explained everything!”

“What is going on?” Ueda asked kind of amused on Massu’s sulky expression as he pointed towards Kochi while sitting up again.

“He is going on…and on and on with his stupid questions!”

“They are not stupid, but necessary! We just want to know all the details, you just told as a small part of what happened until now! And I doubt it is just me who finds it weird that Tegoshi finds you, both of you find Ueda and then you even have Kitayama with you. So I want an explanation, now!” On Kochi’s demanding voice Massu dropped with his back against the chair with a long sigh.

“Maybe I can explain a little bit more!” Tegoshi suddenly interfered as he appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He went passed Ueda and Taiga and stopped right behind Massu who looked up to him over the back of his chair.

“We are open for any explanation! How about you tell us then why you were looking for Massu and how you found him?” Kochi asked shifting impatiently.

“Why I looked for him is easy to explain!” Tegoshi said with a light smile before he moved around the chair to cup Massu’s face with his hands and give him an intense kiss which the latter returned without hesitation.

On a sudden squeal they parted again and everyone looked towards the stairs were Fuma had just slipped from a step and was caught by Kento at the last moment.

“Dafuq is going on?” Fuma asked as he dashed down the stairs stopping right next to Massu and Tegoshi pointing hysterical from one to the other. “Tegoshi since I’ve entered the club you freaked out each time we went to the east club and met him!”

On that Taiga let out a small giggle and now everyone’s eyes were on Ueda and Taiga which seemed to be the only ones not surprised by what had just happened.

“You knew?” Tegoshi asked surprised, because fact was that he had thought no one had really known of their feelings even after Massu had left the club.

“To be honest, no. Not until a few weeks ago. Kentaro was the one who had put all the pieces together,” Taiga explained.

“Then would you mind enlighten us as well?” Juri asked impatiently.

“I left the club, because I realized my feelings for Tegoshi,” Massu started and first a few seemed to want to ask why, but that was too obvious after they thought about it for a moment. “At that time our rules were really strict and I didn’t want to cause trouble for Tegoshi or anyone else in the club.”

“So you decided to join another club, so you have to stay away from him, but can take a look if he is alright sometimes?” Kochi concluded and Massu nodded.

“I needed a few weeks to get that myself to be honest,” Tegoshi continued smiling at Massu apologizing and squeezed his shoulder. “I was completely outraged at that moment and couldn’t think clear anymore, but after I have realized why he had left I didn’t want to waste his efforts, so I started to get cold towards him so no one would realize something.”

“But then Kentaro showed up.” Kochi said with a teasing smile and Tegoshi escaped a small chuckle.

“I should have known that he has realized it when we were at the east club,” Tegoshi admitted.

“And how come you found Massu?” Kento asked curious.

“That was more or less a coincidence. Since the East Club had fallen apart it was hard to track him, but I eventually found him at the street fights and explained the situation to him.” Tegoshi paused and looked at Massu kind of proud and he received a small smile in return.

“And I joined him without hesitation, because after all Nikaido is a friend of mine as well, as are Ueda and all of you!” Massu’s words made the boys smile and Ueda stepped forward to hit Massu on the shoulder.

“Then how about telling us about stuff that troubles you next time, before you run away again?” Ueda scolded him, but his light smile showed him that he wasn’t actually angry at him, because he could completely understand his reasons.

“Wait, okay I can follow until here, but how did you end up with them?” Kochi asked pointing out at Ueda. Taiga and the others also looked at him curious and Ueda finally sat down at the table signalizing the others to sit down as well.

Fuma grabbed a chair and pulled it away from the table a little bit so that Kento could sit down on his lap. Massu also pulled Tegoshi down on his lap, while Taiga squeezed next to Kochi and Juri on the bench.

“Okay I hope I can summarize this as uncomplicated as possible. First, the bullet which hit me at the Fire Foxes' hideout got stuck in my shoulder blade.” Taiga just nodded as Ueda had of course told him a few things over the last night already. The others knew at least what had happened at the Fire Foxes’ hideout since Kentaro and Taiga had explained everything to them. “I woke up when Nikaido dragged me out of the building, but I couldn’t stop him as he ran back inside to come back with Kitayama and Fujigaya the next moment...”

_"Nikaido, where are Taiga and Kentaro?" Ueda shouted before Nikaido could rush inside the building again._

_"Don't worry they got out already."_

_"Then why the hell do you want to get back inside?"_

_"I can't let the others die!" Nikaido yelled angrier than he maybe wanted, but it showed Ueda that whatever had happened in his past didn't take away his humanity. But as he tried to step inside the building again the ceiling collapsed and Nikaido cursed as he had to jump back to not get burned._

_"You tried, that's all that counts. Now let's get out of here!" Ueda said impatient, but as he tried to get up he dropped back to the ground with a painful groan."_

_"What's going on?"_

_Both turned towards Kitayama who jumped up as he gained conscious again. He looked panicked towards the burning building and then at his leader lying on the ground unconsciously. Before he could say something else though, Nikaido had walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar. He stood a few meters away from Ueda and spoke in a low voice, so the latter couldn't catch his words. But Kitayama's face changed as Nikaido let go of him. The next moment Kitayama approached Ueda and helped him up to his surprise._

_But instead of walking with them Nikaido lifted Fujigaya up from the ground and was about to walk into the opposite direction._

_"Wait, Nikaido! What are you doing?" Ueda shouted after him trying to push Kitayama away, but he was barely able to stand he wouldn't be able to stop Nikaido in his current condition and Kitayama seemed more than determined to stop Ueda from following him._

_"Kitayama will bring you back to the club. This is our farewell."_

_"What? Nikaido don't be stupid. Just come back with me!" Ueda begged him, but he could see in his eyes that he had made a decision. The decision to disappear out of their lives so no one would get hurt because of him again. "And Kentaro?" Ueda asked in a kind of disappointed voice._

_"Tell him I've died in the flames."_

_"WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Ueda shouted and as Kitayama's grip on him got tighter he looked at him and to his surprise the latter gritted his teeth, but then he shut his eyes taking a deep breath before he pulled Ueda backwards with him. "We have to leave, the police will be here in no time!"_

_"Let go I won't let him leave like this!"_

_Nikaido turned away from them without another word and with empty eyes, about to vanish in the back streets with Fujigaya, but then he turned around once more. "Tell him I'm sorry."_

_"NIKAIDO, COME BACK HERE YOU STUPID ASSHOLE!" But this time he didn't turn around again and as Ueda heard the first sirens of the police cars he let himself get dragged away from Kitayama._

_"Let's get Kentaro and Taiga and then I'll bring you back to your club." Kitayama said in a neutral voice, but as he wanted to move around the building Ueda used his last strength to drag him into one of the alleys before he slammed him into the wall gritting his teeth to not scream on the pain in his back._

_"You don't tell me what to do!" He hissed at him trying hard not to lose control and punch him._

_"Nikaido told me to take care of you and the boys and now that he saved my life even though I took the one of his friend I have a huge debt to repay."_

_"Then how about you repay him by getting him out this mess instead?" Ueda's words brought change in the latter's eyes and he didn't seem willing anymore to let it end like this. After another moment his eyes showed some weird determination and he looked up at Ueda with dangerous, but strong eyes._

_"So what do you want me to do?"_

"Tell Kentaro 'I'm sorry' after telling him that he had died in the flames? Ha, ha good joke!" Fuma snorted after Ueda had fallen silent again.

Everyone had fallen silent after Ueda had retold everything. Taiga looked on the table instead of facing him, twisting his fingers nervously around each other. Ueda had apologized already a dozen times for leaving him behind, for not telling him about his plan, but he didn't want him to be in danger and Taiga couldn't really blame him for his decision.

"I've been searching with Massu around the different Yakuza clubs for a few weeks until we accidentally stumbled over Ueda," Tegoshi explained, but it was obvious that he wasn't that happy about Kitayama being part of their team.

"So Kitayama is something like your double agent?" Juri asked carefully and Ueda nodded.

"What makes you so sure that he won't betray us again?" Fuma asked making it clear that he would never forgive him for what he has done and everyone else seemed to be the same.

"To be honest, we can't be sure. But you haven't seen what is saw that day and I doubt that they have planned something like this and even if, he is still our best shot to get to Nikaido," Ueda admitted and even though everyone seemed as worried as he was, they knew that if they wanted to get their friend back they needed to take the risk.

"Such dark faces in the morning, not the best start to get ready to go to the Reapers' hideout!"

As none other than Kitayama showed up next to them Fuma was the first one on his feet lifting Kento up with him just to be able to shove him behind him. Of course Kitayama had heard their conversation, but he didn't seem bothered by it. "Are we ready to go then?" He asked in a serious voice looking into the round.

"If you are ready to stay to your word and help us?" This time no one in front of Kitayama had spoken up and as he turned around he found Kentaro glaring at him with dangerous eyes. The boy lifted his hand before Kitayama could respond something. "To make this clear, I am not trusting you, I won't ever forgive you and I will kill you with my own two hands if you dare to lay a hand on any of my friends ever again!" With each word he had made a threatening step forward until he stopped right in front of Kitayama who didn't reply anything, but looked away with a serious, but kind of guilty look, not that Kentaro would care how he felt.

"I guess everything is clear. Let's go!" Kentaro decided not even waiting for the others to reply or catch up with him.

Taiga was the first one on his feet and after exchanging a brief look with Ueda he ran after Kentaro knowing that Ueda would make sure that he would make sure that he had some time to speak to Kentaro before the others would follow them.

“Hey, Kentaro wait up!” Taiga caught up to him right away as Kentaro seemed to have known that he would follow him. “Are you alright?”

Kentaro let out a low chuckle and shook his head, but stayed silent. After another moment of silence, Taiga grabbed him by the elbow to make him stop.

“Would you stop it?” He hissed at his friend who looked up at him with a confused look.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh come on Kentaro, it is not just you who gets affected by the presence of Kitayama, but if you don’t keep a cool head now, you won’t reach anything.” Taiga could see that his friend couldn’t deal with Kitayama being around them, even though he tried to pretend that he could go on like this. Pretending wouldn’t be enough for what they had to face. “No one of us will ever trust him again, we will never forgive him!”

“I am at fault that he could even get close to Nikaido. Because I trusted him, he got me right where he needed me to get to Nikaido and just because I had been too stupid to see through his plans from the beginning you got hurt, Fuma got hurt and Senga got killed!” Kentaro had ripped his arm out of Taiga’s grip taking a step away from him. He hadn’t intended to break again, but somehow he always got weak when Taiga tried to make him face reality again.

“Kentaro, how often do we have to discuss this topic again? It is not your fault! No one of us saw through his plans! Ueda had his doubts about him, Nikaido knew that he could be connected to his past and even though no one of us did something. We are all to blame for not seeing through him and Shige fast enough!” As Kentaro tried to turn away from him, obviously trying to run away from the topic again, Taiga grabbed him by the shoulders. “And Senga’s death is to blame on Kitayama and no one else, you hear me!” He shook him almost violently as Kentaro didn’t react, because after all those months he didn’t want Kentaro to blame himself again. Kentaro had been strong for Taiga the whole time as Taiga had crumbled through his nightmares and now he needed to do the same for his friend, because they were about to reach their goal and Kentaro would need to focus on that and only that! “Please Kentaro, stop blaming yourself and stop worrying about Kitayama! Your priority is Nikaido!”

On his name Kentaro finally showed a reaction and his face softened a little bit as he looked up at Taiga who finally let go of him again as he was sure that he wouldn’t freak out at him or try to run away.

“Leave Kitayama to Ueda and the others! Trust me, Fuma will be the first one to gladly end his life if he should betray us, so let him deal with him, because like this he is busy and has no time to do something stupid!”

Kentaro finally escaped a small chuckle on that and Taiga hit him gentle against the shoulder before they kept walking in silence, slowing down so that the others could catch up with them. After all they had to concentrate on their meeting with Ryosuke, because every wrong move could be their last.


	9. Chapter 9

“Well this is definitely a picture I’ve never thought of showing in front of me!” Ryosuke said while clapping his hands as Kentaro stepped into the club, which was awfully quiet at daytime. “The annoying redhead, a Fire Foxes’ member and some interesting company,“ Ryosuke’s eyes filled with excitement as he looked at the other boys and it was clear that the smile he formed was because of one of them, but he was at the second floor so they couldn’t really tell who he was looking at.

Kentaro was the first one to move over to the stairs and at first two of Ryosuke’s men blocked the way, but the leader told them to let them through.

“So what gives me the honor of your visit?” Ryosuke asked with a dangerous yet playful smile on his lips as Kentaro stopped in front of him after the leader had sat down on a white armchair with a few of his men standing behind it, reminding everyone of their existence and the danger which was connected to each word they spoke.

“We would like to ask for your help!” Taiga spoke up and luckily Kentaro didn’t seem angry as he stepped next to him.

“My help? For what?”

“We need to rescue someone from the Fire Foxes.”

Ryosuke’s smile grew even wider on Taiga’s words and he laughed out loud once before pointing behind him at Kitayama. “You have the perfect person to help you over there or did he forget to tell you that he is a Fire Fox himself?”

“He forgot to tell us until he killed one of our friends!” Kentaro said cold and on his statement Ryosuke’s face changed. He stood up and approached Kentaro slowly. Taiga shifted nervously knowing that he wasn’t allowed to step in front of him even though he would have loved to, not knowing Ryosuke's intentions.

The leader leant closer to take a good look at Kentaro who faced him straight on. “I like your eyes, they show no fear! I guess the one you want to rescue is connected to you, right? So who is it?”

“Nikaido.” Kentaro answered in a steady voice and he could see how Ryosuke’s face fell for a second, but then it turned back to the playful mask as if nothing would have happened.

“Okay let me rephrase this question. What is he to you?”

Kentaro stayed silent at this direct question and he looked at Taiga with a side glance, but his friend couldn’t help him with this question. He looked to the ground not sure what to answer as Ryosuke suddenly grabbed him by the chin making him gasp as his cold fingers met his skin. He wasn’t exactly violent, but he made sure that Kentaro wouldn’t look away again.

“You know I am not often considering to help people, but you woke my interest. It would be a shame if you let this chance pass by, because you are too proud to speak about your feelings in front of everyone!” Ryosuke let go of him again and Kentaro could read something dangerous in his eyes, but the anger showing wasn’t directed at him or the others. Kentaro was sure that Ryosuke had his own past with the Fire Foxes and as Ryosuke turned away from him he finally snapped out of it.

“He is everything to me!” He almost shouted, clenching his fists as he demanded his voice to stay steady and his eyes to stay on Ryosuke who had turned back to him with a faint smile. “I’ve found him after I had lost everything! He helped me to find something worth fighting for and I will get him out there whether you help us or not!”

Ryosuke let out a mischievous chuckle as he stopped so close in front of Kentaro that he could feel his breath on his skin. Again he lifted his hand to his face, but this time he moved it gentle over his cheek resting his thumb under one of his eyes. “As I told you I really like the look in your eyes, especially now that you left all caution behind! I wonder how far you would go to rescue him?”

“I would die for him!”

“Interesting! Really interesting,” Ryosuke let out still not moving back. In the corner of his eyes Kentaro could see Taiga looking worried from them to Ueda and the others, but he didn’t dare to move away. He was more than surprised that everyone else stayed this silent until now, normally at least Fuma and Juri would have already made a huge ruckus about Ryosuke’s behavior, but they seemed to have noticed how serious the situation was.

“So how about we talk about payment?” Ryosuke asked with a lopsided smile as he moved his hand slowly from Kentaro’s cheek to his lips. “Don’t worry I won’t ask you to die for him, but I like to test people’s limits and I really wonder how far you are willing to go!”

Taiga escaped a gasp as Ryosuke was about to lean in to kiss Kentaro, but to everyone’s surprise Kentaro turned away his face at the last moment.

Fuma and the others tensed immediately, afraid that the situation could escalate every moment now, but then Ryosuke chuckled again, this time in a lighter way and his smile was showing something that could be interpreted as sympathy before he pulled back ruffling through Kentaro’s hair who looked up at him in confusion. “Don’t get me wrong, I still demand payment, but you just made your point one hundred percent clear and you get my respect for your honestly and courage!”

“What do you want as payment then?” Taiga asked and Ryosuke stretched out his arm without hesitation as if he had just waited for this question and the person he pointed at didn’t seem at all surprised by his choice.

“I want him!”

“And I want my fist on your face!” Fuma shouted the next moment, but luckily Juri and Kochi held him back and a side glance from Ueda made him shut up again, even though he still wanted to hit Ryosuke for pointing out at Kento.

“Don’t worry, I’ll just borrow him for a while. I’ll return him to you tomorrow morning!” Ryosuke said in a soothing voice as he stretched out his hand waiting for Kento to step forward.

“You don’t have to do this!” Fuma yelled as Kento made the first step forward. But as Kento turned to look at Fuma with a light smile the younger one held his breath. It was the first time that he saw such a determination in his eyes.

“We all agreed on finding Kentaro and the others and help them as good as we can! And finally I can help them as well, so please don’t be angry at me!” With an apologizing look Kento turned back towards Ryosuke and as he walked over to him he looked at Taiga for a moment giving him a brief nod and the latter returned it with slight worry showing on his face.

“Kento, please don’t!” Fuma begged him, but Kento didn’t stop until he was in front of Ryosuke and the leader smiled at him with and excited expression.

“Until tomorrow morning!” Kento repeated and Ryosuke nodded. Kento took a deep breath before he put his hand into Ryosuke’s who closed his own around it before facing Kentaro again.

“You have some awesome friends! I hope you’re aware of what you have in them!” Ryosuke addressed him more serious again and Kentaro nodded looking at Kento the next moment, but he could see that his friend had made up his mind and instead of trying to change his mind he stepped back together with Taiga. He wouldn’t let his friend’s effort go to waste even though he knew that it was not just hard for Fuma, but for all of them to leave one of their friends behind, not knowing what will happen to him.

“We’ll be back at sunrise!” Kentaro announced and Ryosuke hold up his hand which held on to Kento’s, a really hard to interpret look on his face which made Fuma almost lose it again, but for now he let Juri and Kochi push him towards the stairs.

Kento watched how they made it towards the exit, Fuma refusing to take his eyes off him until the last moment and even though he knew that he would have loved to run back upstairs and drag him out with them, he was more than happy that he didn’t.

“What are you thinking of?” Ryosuke asked suddenly as he pulled lightly on Kento’s arm as the others had finally left the building. He made him sit down at the same couch were they had talked last time and to Kento’s surprise he let go of his hand and sat down next to him with an acceptable distance between them.

“I am really proud at him for letting me handle things even though he is afraid of what could happen,” Kento answered in a low voice and even though he didn’t try to avoid Ryosuke’s look on him, he couldn’t meet his eyes longer than a few seconds before he automatically looked away.

“Are you afraid?” Ryosuke asked as he shifted a little bit closer and put his arm over the backrest of the couch right behind Kento.

“Do I have to be?”

“That depends…” Ryosuke admitted as he moved his other hand towards Kento’s face who closed his eyes on the touch. “…on how you behave tonight.”

***

“Guys, could we please talk?” Juri asked after they had left the Reapers’ hideout behind them for a few kilometers already. Fuma was walking in front with his hands in his pockets and obviously unwilling to talk to anyone. The older ones were walking behind them with some distance. Massu and Tegoshi already discussing some strategy for whatever would await them if the Reapers really joined their fight.

Kentaro stuck to Taiga since he had felt Kitayama’s eyes on him the moment he had left his friend behind with Ryosuke and luckily Ueda made sure that they would get some time for themselves for now. But now finally Juri’s patience had found an end and he pulled on Kochi’s sleeve who was walking with him next to Taiga and Kentaro.

“I’m not really sure what you want to talk about. At the moment every topic would be the wrong one.” Kochi let out with a worried expression as he looked from Juri to Kentaro who didn’t even notice all the eyes on him.

“But we didn’t have a choice, did we? Ryosuke decided himself what kind of payment he wanted.”

“Yes Juri, we know! But that doesn’t make it easier.” Kochi scolded his friend who pouted for a moment before he let out a long sigh. “If it wasn’t Kento, I wouldn’t worry that much I guess.”

“Juri, shut it!” Kochi warned him as he realized that Fuma tensed in front of them, but Juri was too busy trying to convince himself that they didn’t do something bad to realize that he made everything worse like this.

“But he can’t even fight properly. He wouldn’t be able to defend himself, if-“ Before Juri knew what was going on Fuma had swirled around and tackled him to the ground without a warning. 

“DON’T SAY IT!” Fuma screamed at him, shaking him violently on the collar.

“Fuma, let go of him!” Kochi shouted trying to make him let go of his friend, but Fuma didn’t even acknowledge his presence.

“IF YOU ARE SO WORRIED, WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP HIM? NOW IT’S TOO LATE SO DON’T PLAY WORRIED!” Fuma continued and Juri was too shocked by his reaction to even think about replying something.

As Kochi tried to pull Fuma away again he found himself on the ground as Fuma pushed him with so much force that he lost balance.

“Fuma, calm down!” Taiga tried his luck this time, but as Fuma finally let go of Juri he approached Taiga with threatening steps this time.

“I’ve talked to Kento before and he knew that something like this could happen, because Ryosuke showed some interest the last time they met already.”

“And you thought it would be a good idea telling him to offer himself as payment? What an awesome friend you are!”

Taiga took a step backwards as Fuma came into a dangerous distance. “I didn’t tell him anything! He asked me to make sure that you would be okay if the meeting with Ryosuke would have this outcome, because he had already made up his mind. He wanted to help us, but he knew that you wouldn’t like the idea!”

“Not like the idea? Taiga, god damnit why didn’t you tell me before?”

As Fuma was obviously losing it again ready to punch Taiga, Ueda and the others were already dashing towards them, but before Fuma could even think about attacking, he felt a sharp pain on his cheekbone and as he got his orientation back after almost losing balance he found Kentaro standing in front of him with one of his fists shaking through the punch he had just given him. But instead of saying something he stayed silent looking to the ground and the next moment Fuma grabbed him by the collar pulling him up so much that he was almost standing on his toes.

“So now you play hero, after leaving Kento behind instead of taking care of your problems yourself?” Fuma hissed at him.

“Fuma, that’s not fair!” Taiga interfered.

“You know that this is not Kentaro’s fault! Kento decided for himself to stay behind!” Kochi tried to reason with him as well, but as they wanted to make a step towards them Kentaro stretched out his arms making them stop.

“You left the club to find us, you stayed at our side even though it was dangerous and yet I still couldn’t do anything to repay you.” Kentaro said in a low voice and the others froze on his words, while Fuma was still not willing to let go of him. “You lost Hokuto, you saw how Senga died and now you had to leave Kento behind with one of the most dangerous people in the city and that for my sake.” Fuma tensed even more on his words and the others wondered if he wanted to provoke him even more. “And yes I am sorry, I really am! But you know what? I was there as well when Hokuto died, I saw how Senga got shot! I wasn’t strong enough to stop them from taking me with them so they could get to Nikaido. They hurt Taiga right in front of my eyes and I couldn’t stop them, they shot Ueda and I could do nothing! I had to drag Taiga out the building even though he begged me not to-“ Kentaro took a shuddering breath as he realized how his voice was about to break and finally Fuma’s grip on him loosened as his rage slowly faded. “I left Nikaido behind, not knowing if I would ever see him again and trust me it was the worst feeling I’ve ever had in my life and yes I hate myself for leaving him behind, but no I wouldn’t change it!” With the next deep breath Fuma let finally go of him looking at him with a look almost impossible to read. Everyone around them has fallen silent, but Taiga had started shaking on his words and Juri and Kochi were next to him the next moment trying to calm him down.

“He had decided for himself that he wanted to keep me safe! He made this decision because he knew I would trust him and I know that you trust Kento as well or you would never have made a step out of this fucking building!” Kentaro tried to take another deep breath, but this time he couldn’t stop a few tears from falling to the ground. He rubbed his sleeve over his eyes glaring at Fuma again, not willing to let his emotions ruin his effort, but it seemed like he had finally made Fuma understand his point as the latter stared at him in complete shock.

Taiga was fighting with his own emotions next to them, but Juri and Kochi dragged him away a little bit for now and the next moment Ueda was next to them taking over for them and pulling Taiga in his embrace.

As Fuma fell to his knees hitting the ground with a loud scream everyone else stood silent. It wasn’t like they hadn’t known from the start what danger would await them, but they had forgotten that Taiga and Kentaro had hit rock bottom months ago and even though Kentaro’s words might have seemed selfish to someone else, all of his friends understood that they had been necessary.

“DAMNIT! Damnit! Damnit…” Fuma’s voice got more unsteady with each time he hit the ground and as his fist was already bleeding and sobs replaced his shouting his hand was stopped in Kentaro’s palm before he could hit the ground again. The next moment Kentaro pulled him against his chest and Fuma grabbed his sleeves desperately.

“I’m sorry for leaving him behind! I’m sorry for not staying there myself, because yes it is my problem and I want Nikaido back the most! But I won’t let Kento’s efforts go to waste. He wants us to trust him and I know you trust him with your life!” He dropped a small kiss on Fuma’s head as the latter wouldn’t stop shaking against him. “So please just this one time let him handle things! You can blame me your whole life for it, but please don’t take my chance to get Nikaido back, away from me!”

Fuma shook his head against Kentaro’s chest trying to find his voice, but he couldn’t answer anything even though he wanted to. They all remained silent for another moment until Tegoshi and Massu got worried that they would drag too much attention towards them like this and even though it was hard for them as well they dragged Fuma and Kentaro back on their feet.

Even though the direct meeting with Ryosuke had gone without problems, they got more affected by the fact that they had to leave their friend behind, as they had thought of. For now they needed time to think and calm down, each of them in their own way, because they would need their energy the next day to face what was coming and they all knew that what they had to face from now on would test their limits even more.

***

“Are you not going to sleep?” Taiga asked as Kentaro remained alone at the meeting space after Juri and Kochi had dragged Fuma directly to his room the moment they had come back to make him calm down. The others had also scattered over the building, everyone in their own thoughts.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Kentaro said serious, but it was obvious that Taiga didn’t believe him. “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything stupid! I didn't leave Kento behind to ruin his efforts now!”

“I just wondered how much Fuma’s words affected you.” Taiga admitted and Kentaro’s look darkened a little bit. Sure in the end Kentaro had been the one to affect Fuma with his words the most, but that didn’t mean that Fuma’s words hadn’t been true and they hit him hard even though he tried not to show it, but of course Taiga could tell.

“We both know how tough it is to stay sane at the moment and Fuma and the others have just joined our situation. You know that he will hate himself for saying those things as soon as Kento is back and safe, right?”

“Of course I do. I am not blaming him.”

“Yet  I can tell how you start drowning again! I wonder how you can always stay so strong when someone needs you and when you have to take care of yourself you are a complete failure!”

Finally Kentaro escaped a chuckle and he smiled at Taiga who clapped him on the shoulder before he went over to the stairs.

“You know that I am always there for you. We all are!”

“But you would still scold me if I burst into Ueda’s room at night.”

“Also true and I guess Massu and Tegoshi should also be on your “to be careful” list when it is about sudden intrusion.

“Then I guess it is safer to stay away from you until the morning!” Kentaro said smiling and before Taiga could get worried again he pointed upstairs. “Don’t worry, as I said, I’ll be fine! Now go to sleep or whatever you two have planned for tonight!”

Taiga nodded at him a little bit embarrassed and even though he seemed still worried he forced a smile on his lips before he finally went upstairs, leaving Kentaro alone in the by now pretty cold room.

They were using candles, because the building was already old and had no electricy, but even though there was just one candle in front of him which didn’t really light up the room he didn’t bother to light more.

He was sitting on the bench, now folding his knees up to his chest and looking absentmindely into the flickering light. He was so close to finally get Nikaido out of there and still he didn’t feel as confident as he would like to. As he remembered the first and the last time he had seen Nikaido, he had to smile a little bit. Never would he have imagined that this at first sight rude and arrogant person would turn into the most important existence in his life.

The next moment Kentaro realized that he was shaking and the tear which suddenly slipped over his eyelid told him that it wasn't because of the cold. He didn't even know how Nikaido's situation was at the moment and still he couldn't stop worrying. There was too much going on to stay calm. He was worried for Kento, restless because of Fuma and about to lose his calm with every day passing by without them making a step forward.

Kentaro flinched as a blanket suddenly landed on his shoulders and covered halfway his head as well. As he pulled it back and looked up at the person which walked around the table, his look darkened, but Kitayama didn't mind and sat down opposite of him at the table.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing special. I just saw you sitting here and thought I might help you to prevent catching a cold."

Kentaro growled dangerously, but Kitayama just raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not joking! Do you even know what awaits you as soon as the Reapers and Exposers give their okay to attack my troop?"

"Maybe you betraying me again awaits me, but this time I'll make sure to not give you a chance to do so again." Kentaro meant every word he said and Kitayama seemed aware of it as he slowly nodded with a weird expression. His look always softened when he was talking to Kentaro, but because he tried to not let it show his expression turned even more suspicious.

"You should be prepared," The older one let out in an apologizing tone which made Kentaro worry suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"At the moment he is not the person you knew until now."

"As I told Fujigaya before as well, I know him better than you do."

"That might be true, but Fujigaya knows the best way to turn him back into the person he was before he left the yakuza and I am not sure if you are ready to see him this way!”

First anger rose inside of Kentaro and he was ready to yell at him, but the change on his face made him stay silent. He had actually not even thought about the possibility that Nikaido wasn’t actually kept there, but had stayed behind on his own free will and after what Kitayama had just said it seemed like this was the case.

“By the way, how did you know that I lied about Nikaido being dead?” Kitayama asked suddenly and first Kentaro stayed silent, looking at him with an angry glare not sure if he should just stand up and leave, because after all there was no reason for him to talk to Kitayama at all until he would be of any help. But on the other hand the time would pass faster if he kept himself busy, even when that meant to bear with his company.

“It turned out that you lost the ability to lie to me since you’ve betrayed me!” Kentaro explained making Kitayama stare at him kind of disbelieving. “I don’t care of the reason, but you’ve lost your ability to keep your poker face in front of me since I’ve woken up at the Fire Foxes’ hideout.”

“I just wasn’t careful enough,” Kitayama said in a cold voice on which Kentaro escaped an ironic chuckle.

“And here we have the best example. You try so hard to make me believe your lies that you’re not seeing how obvious you are! The same happened when you told me about Nikaido. For a moment I was just too shocked about what you said to even consider it a lie, but as soon as you were gone and I had calmed down again I realized that you have lied and I knew that to be one hundred percent sure I needed an answer from someone involved.  So I went to see Kamenashi, because thanks to you I knew that he was somehow part of whatever was going on.”

“Great, so now you can read my face, not sure if it will help you though.”

“To be honest, I can’t read it all the time.” Kentaro admitted making Kitayama tilt it head and if it wouldn’t be Kitayama, Kentaro might have laughed at his confused face. “When you are talking to me all your walls seem about to crumble and I see how you struggle to keep them up. But let me tell you that I won’t ever forgive you and I don’t care how guilty you feel for killing Senga and luring Nikaido into a trap!”

“I don’t!” Kitayama stated without hesitation and Kentaro held his breath as he realized that he wasn’t lying. “I don’t feel guilty, because I carried out a mission and even though killing someone wasn’t necessarily part of it, I did what was necessary to complete it.”

“Then why did you help Ueda and the others until here?” Kentaro yelled hitting with his fists on the table. The next moment he took a deep breath not wanting to wake everyone up. “Is this still a part of your mission? Were you playing us right through the whole thing?”

“You tell me! You said you could say when I was lying!”

“Then tell me, are you about to betray us again?”

“No.” Kitayama answered without taking his eyes off the boy and Kentaro relaxed a little bit after hearing his answer.

“Then why did you change your mind? Why are you helping us?”

“I owe Nikaido my life and repaying him for that isn’t easy.”

“Did he ask you to tell me that he would be dead?”

Kentaro’s question amazed Kitayama, because he thought the boy would never consider his beloved one to do something cruel like this to him, but he seemed to have gotten what Nikaido tried. The others had decided to not tell Kentaro about it, but now that he had figured it out himself there was no need to keep it a secret anymore.

“He did, indeed. He told me to take Ueda and you two boys back to the club and tell you that he has died in the flames, so that you wouldn’t search for him.”

“So that we wouldn’t be in danger again…this idiot!” Kentaro let out in a low voice and this time it was Kitayama who chuckled a little bit.

“I hope you can open his eyes towards the outside world again, because at the moment his eyes are showing nothing at all.”

“Does he know that we are searching for him?” Kentaro asked worried and he looked a little bit down as Kitayama shook his head.

“Since he has become Fujigaya’s right hand again he is out of my reach and even if I got to speak to him in private, he wouldn’t even believe me I guess. As I said he isn’t the person you know at the moment.”

Kentaro was too shocked to reply something. As he remembered the small parts he could connect about Nikaido’s past he couldn’t but worry what was happening to Nikaido now that he was back at the place he had fled from before.

“Who is Yokoo?” Kentaro suddenly asked, but Kitayama’s expression told him that he was the wrong one to ask.

“As I said, I entered after Nikaido has already left, so I don’t know what has happened, but I know that the Reapers had been involved, so maybe you get some more information tomorrow.” Kitayama got up about to leave for his room, but he stopped and looked over his shoulder with a weird expression which made Kentaro look at him questioning. “I said I didn’t feel guilty about completing my mission, but I feel guilty for dragging you into this whole mess.”

“Why?” Kentaro asked in a soft voice which confused himself.

“There is blood on all our hands and most of us are not regretting our actions, because we are aware of all the consequences. But-“Kitayama looked away before he continued and Kentaro knew that he didn’t want him to read his face. “But I would regret having your blood on my hands!”

Without turning around again he went upstairs and Kentaro just stared into the room for a moment. As soon as Kitayama was talking to him, his wall fell and even though he would normally never betray his own troop he did it and even though he wanted everyone to believe that it was because he had to repay Nikaido, Kentaro finally understood that this was not the case at all.

“You don’t want my blood on your hands and the only way to make me stay away from your world is by handing Nikaido back to us. So even though you’ll be the one losing everything on this way, you chose to protect me,” Kentaro whispered in realization and he decided that he needed to sleep as well or his thoughts and emotions which were connecting to a huge headache would make him freak or break down in no time.

He had gotten at least some answers for today. Some he wanted to hear, some he didn’t want to hear. Some he had expected and some which made it hard to not crumble under their burden, even though it wasn’t his to carry.


	10. Chapter 10

Fuma slammed the door open and he would have definitely start a fight if any of Ryosuke’s men tried to stop him as he dashed up to the second floor as he spotted Kento right away.

Ryosuke was sitting on his armchair with an amused expression while Kento was standing next to him, now giving him a worried look as Fuma dashed up the stairs, but Ryosuke just nodded at him. Kento could just make a few steps forward, because Fuma had already reached him the next moment, pulling him into such a tight hug that it got hard for the older one to breath.

“Fuma, it’s okay. Everything is fine!” Kento tried to calm him down, but Fuma didn’t want to let go. Even as the others finally caught up to him and stopped a few meters away from them, he refused to even lift his head from the latter’s shoulder.

“Don’t ever do something reckless like this again,” He mumbled into the latter’s shirt and Kento stroke over his hair in reply.

“As I said, everything is alright.”

The next moment Fuma stepped back and took Kento by the shoulders so that he flinched out of surprise. “Wrong thing to say! I told you not to do anything like this again and all I want to hear from you is a “I won’t” answer!”

“Fuma-“

“Say it!” Fuma shook him a little bit and finally Kento gave in and nodded.

“Okay, I won’t do something like this again, promise!”

“Thank you!” Fuma pulled him back into a hug and the others were more than happy to see a light smile on Kento’s face as he tried to calm Fuma down so that they could finally make space for Kentaro who waited patiently for them to step out of the way.

As Ryosuke stood up Kento finally pushed Fuma to the side, who drilled him with questions and looked up and down his body with a worried look.

“How about you let us talk in private for a moment?” Ryosuke suddenly asked making the others tense, but it was Kento who made the first step to leave. Kentaro looked after him with a weird feeling, it didn't seem like he left because he trusted Ryosuke, but because even though he tried to act alright he really wanted to get out. Kentaro gave them a nod and the next moment they all moved out the building again, followed by a few of Ryosuke’s men.

“Don’t worry, I don’t send my men after them to threaten them, but to make sure that no one else attacks them. Times have changed and it got pretty dangerous around the blocks lately,” Ryosuke explained as he walked over to the white couch pointing at it for Kentaro to sit down.

“Then let’s have a talk.”

“Did you do anything to him?” Kentaro asked the moment Ryosuke sat down next to him and Ryosuke’s face changed into an amused look right away.

“You know, I really like your straight forward attitude. There must be dozens of questions you want to ask me and still the first thing you do is making sure if your friend is fine!”

Kentaro didn’t answer anything on that and Ryosuke’s smile just grew wider on Kentaro’s burning glare.

“We talked.” Ryosuke said neutral as he took a glass from the table taking a sip from it.

“And?” Kentaro asked impatient, but Ryosuke shook his head.

“And nothing. As I said, we talked. A lot to be honest. He wasn’t really feeling comfortable at first and who could blame him, but he opened up after a while. I got to hear quite a few funny stories from your fight club.”

The fact that Kentaro couldn’t read Ryosuke’s expression at all made him feel uneasy, because he wasn’t sure if Ryosuke was lying or not and he wouldn’t be surprised if he did, out of all the triangle members he was definitely the weirdest one. Even when he would ask Kento later he wasn’t sure if he told him the truth, because after all Kento tried to not be a burden to anyone, so he would stay strong even if he was crumbling inside. But for now he had to trust Ryosuke’s words, even though he didn’t know if he should.

“So any other questions?” Ryosuke asked in a playful voice as he put the glass back on the table and crossed his legs with his hands on his knees.

“Are you helping us?”

“Boy trust me, if I won’t then you wouldn’t be sitting here.”

“Why are you helping us?”

“Because you gave me a nice payment for it.”

“Okay let me rephrase this, why did you consider helping us in the first place?”

There it was again, Ryosuke’s mask had fallen for the blink of an eye, but then he smiled again. “Is it that important? Don’t you want to know how we get Nikaido out of there?”

Kentaro could see that Ryosuke got a little bit nervous as Kentaro didn't ask for an intruding plan, but about background information. Kentaro had learnt to get as many information together as possible before making another half planned move.

“Kamenashi told me that you have your own past with the Fire Foxes and Nikaido, what did he mean?”

“Kame is really too talkative,” Ryosuke let out as he leant forward, ruffling through his hair and Kentaro could see that he was obviously not happy about Kentaro digging out past happenings.

“So he is right, something happened between you?” Kentaro asked directly again and even as Ryosuke gave him a dangerous glare, he didn’t look away. The next moment Ryosuke escaped an annoyed sight, but Kentaro could see that he had given in.

“I wasn’t the leader back then and it’s not that I was the main person in what happened, at least not until the end when I finally took action, but it was unfortunately already too late, at least for Yokoo.”

_“Yokoo, get out of here!” Nikaido shouted at his friend, but Yokoo didn’t move even as the members of the Reapers circled around him, blocking his way out. Nikaido was sitting on his knees, blood dropping from his face to the ground. The leader of the Reapers stood a few steps away from him with metal knuckles on his hands which he had just used on him while two of his men held him down._

_Ryosuke was standing at the back watching the scene in front of him with a bad feeling. Nikaido had come to them with the request to join him and the Exposers to bring down Fujigaya. But the Reapers’ leader had refused without even listening to his reasons. The fact alone that Fujigaya’s right hand was asking something like this made him think that it was a trap and as Nikaido refused to leave the leader had suspicion that Nikaido tried to overturn the Titanium Triangle to get control over the Fire Foxes himself so he had attacked him before he could flee._

_“You are in this mess, because I asked something of you I should have taken care of from the start!” Yokoo said with a faint smile as he took a few steps forward, looking at his friend before turning to the leader of the Reapers. “He has nothing to do with this, I am not sure what you think he tried to achieve with his request, but let me assure you that this is not a trap of any kind.”_

_“Sure and you as Fujigaya’s best friend are more trustworthy than him!?” The leader let out sarcastic as he took a threatening step towards him._

_“Leave him alone!” Nikaido yelled, but as he tried to get up he found himself on the ground coughing, as one of the men hit him with a metal bar against the ribs._

_“Nikaido, please let me handle this! I already asked too much of you,” Yokoo said in a way too calm voice and Nikaido shook his head, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get them out of this mess alone._

_“I bet Nikaido told you already that we asked the Exposers for help as well and after they listened to everything they agreed and I would like you to listen as well!” Yokoo paused for a moment and as the leader didn’t interrupt him, he continued in the same calm voice than before. “Fujigaya is my best friend, right! And it hurts me more than anyone else to see him getting corrupted by the power he gained through becoming the head of the Fire Foxes. This is exactly why I want you to overthrow him!”_

_Ryosuke could see that Yokoo’s words were true, but their leader was not that much better than Fujigaya. The Reapers had earned the title of the most fearsome yakuza troop of all time since the Titanium Triangle was established and it got worse with every time he got more control over the city. As the leader let out a mischievous laughter a shiver ran down Ryosuke’s spin, because he knew that he wouldn’t consider their request at all._

_“You know when I want to overthrow the triangle, I’ll do it alone! As if I would ever work together with those Exposer bastards!”_

_“If you won’t help us, then it will be the Fire Foxes which will gain control over the whole triangle in no time!” Yokoo explained, this time with a hint of worry in his voice as he realized that they wouldn’t come to an agreement._

_“Is that a threat?”_

_“This is the truth, not more!”_

_“Then I should maybe start my move already to be sure to not let them overpower me!”_

_The leader lifted his hand and the next moment two of his men got a hold on Yokoo who didn’t even try to struggle, because after all he wasn’t a fighter, he wouldn’t stand a chance even if he tried._

_“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Nikaido shouted as the leader draw out a knife and was walking up to his friend, but he got a hard impact on the back before he could try to get back on his feet again._

_Ryosuke shifted worried in the back of the room looking panicked at the scene in front of him. He had barely had contact to the other troops, but he had met Nikaido and Yokoo before as he had walked into Fire Foxes' territory by accident. He had been sure that Nikaido would kill him right away for entering their territory, but then Yokoo appeared next to him and even though Ryosuke had heard rumors that Nikaido never showed mercy or emotions in common, he stepped back as Yokoo put his hand on his shoulder. He had faced Ryosuke with a smile and had told him to leave before someone saw him._

_In his troop it wasn’t that easy. If they messed up, they would get punished pretty badly and suddenly anger rose inside of Ryosuke._

_“I was the one to request Nikaido to come here and ask you to help us. He has nothing to do with this, so let him go at least!” Yokoo demanded, but the leader just laughed at him._

_“Yes as if I would let any information about this get brought back to your troop.”_

_The leader stopped right in front of Yokoo and looked over to Nikaido once more. The latter was shouting at him, trying to get up, but the others slammed him down to the ground over and over again._

_“I won’t spare anyone, because this is not my style,” with a creepy smile he turned away from Yokoo and approached Nikaido instead and as he ordered his men to lift him up Yokoo finally started struggling._

_“Don’t, please!” Yokoo begged, but the leader ignored him as he grabbed Nikaido by the hair putting the knife to his throat._

_“Any tough last words left?” The leader asked grinning, but he hadn’t expected Nikaido to have enough strength left to kick him away and free himself out of the other ones' grip._

_“NIKAIDO!” Yokoo screamed out for him as he knew that he couldn’t win against him in his current condition and after the next attack the leader had brought the knife down into Nikaido’s shoulder who gritted his teeth to not scream out._

_“Full of surprises, aren’t you? I know why Fujigaya keeps you by his side, but from now on he will be unprotected!” He pulled the knife out again and kicked Nikaido away who landed on his knees, but even though he was sure that the knife would be stabbed into his back the next moment, he didn’t feel pain. What he felt was a heavy weight on his back and as he turned his head, his eyes went wide in disbelieve._

_“No…Yokoo…” He whispered the words in shock unable to form a whole sentence as his friend was resting over his back, looking at him with a last faint smile before his eyes turned empty. Nikaido turned around and caught him as he slipped to the side and the leader ripped out the knife from his back violently and stepped back with a satisfied laughter._

_“Oh, aren’t you cute? I would have killed him anyways, but at least he could play hero like this!” The leader said mocking and Nikaido looked up at him with dangerous eyes._

_“I’m going to kill you!” Nikaido hissed, but the leader didn’t seem convinced by his threat as he waved him towards him._

_“Then come on! I’d love to see you try!”_

_Nikaido put his friend to the ground carefully and even though it took him a lot of effort he stood up again. Even if he would die in this fight as well, he would make sure to take his friend’s murderer with him._

_“Come on, I’m waiting! Maybe you can entertain me a little bit more!”_

_Nikaido was about to dash forward as a hand on his shoulder held him back and the next moment all eyes were on Ryosuke who stayed next to him with a sorrowful yet dangerous look in his eyes._

_“What do you want?” Nikaido hissed at him ready to just push him away, but then the boy’s eyes fell on Yokoo and Nikaido could see that he wasn’t the same as their leader. As he looked up at Nikaido again he formed a weird smile before he stepped in front of him. “It’s a little bit late to repay him, but I will make sure to at least safe you!” He whispered so that no other could hear them._

_Nikaido blinked at him confused as he had obviously not even realized until now that he had met Ryosuke before, but the boy didn’t mind and as he turned towards his leader he got confronted with a murderous glare. But Ryosuke just stepped closer still wearing his smile and their leader just raised an eyebrow at the boy which was normally never causing any uproar._

_“What is it?” The other one asked in a dangerous voice, but Ryosuke just stretched out his hand._

_“May I try my luck?”_

_“You? Since when do you want to kill someone willingly?”_

_“Since I’ve got a really good reason for it!”_

_“Which would be?”_

_“I’ll tell you as soon as it over!”_

_Somehow the boy’s attitude has attracted the leader’s attention and he handed him the knife. “Then I’ll be looking forward to hear that reason!”_

_Ryosuke looked at the knife in his hand with a kind of guilty expression, but then he smiled and looked up at the other one again. “I’ll tell you right away!” He said and with the next move everything was over. All the other members had reacted different on Ryosuke’s sudden attack, but no one tried to stop him, because it was already too late as he had stabbed the knife into the leader's chest._

_Nikaido stared at him perplex and the leader himself looked at him in shock as he tried to grab him by the throat, but as he pushed the knife in even deeper the other one fell to his knees._

_“Lives are not something to play with! Yes we all have blood on our hands, but the Underground is our family and we have to protect it, this is the first rule of the Titanium Triangle! But you have lost your way, so I’ll carry on with our way for you and protect my family from your insanity.”_

_He took a step backwards pulling the knife out again. For a moment everyone fell silent until the leader dropped to the ground. The other members looked at each other in confusion for a moment, but no one seemed willingly to attack Ryosuke or see him as a traitor._

_Ryosuke turned towards Nikaido who was obviously not sure if he could trust him and if the danger was over. But as fast as Ryosuke’s look had darkened as he had killed their leader, it brightened up again and he looked at Nikaido with a slightly guilty smile._

_“I am sorry that I couldn’t protect you both. I would have liked to repay him for his kindness, but I hope he can forgive me now that I’ve at least saved his friend’s life.” Ryosuke stepped to the side and with him all the other members moved out of their way as well and it was clear that the danger was over. Ryosuke had taken over with no one objecting and luckily he had also decided to not follow the Reapers’ path._

_Nikaido walked over to his friend, lifting him up in his arms as he tried to walk as steady as possible. He stopped right next to Ryosuke who was wearing this smile again, which would become his new mask as a leader and which would protect him from falling apart under the pressure he had just burdened himself with._

_“Thank you,” Nikaido let out to his own surprise, but it had been the first time for him that except for Yokoo someone had helped him out._

_“Let me know when everything has calmed down again. You’ll be my guest the next time!” Ryosuke said making his intentions clear and Nikaido nodded as he walked out the Reapers’ hideout having to face the problems in his own troop for now, before he could consider coming back to ask for help again._

“But he never showed up again and with the end of the Second World War the Underground turned into a huge chaos for quite a while and as everything had calmed down again Nikaido was gone.” Ryosuke finished and Kentaro could do nothing more than stare at him for a while longer.

“Do you know why Fujigaya accuses him for the death of Yokoo?” It wasn’t actually like he wanted to get even more hurting information about Nikaido’s past, but he also knew that he had to put as many pieces together as possible to be able to get him out of there.

“I just heard rumors, but it seems like Nikaido never told him what exactly had happened and after Nikaido had vanished, Fujigaya was so outraged that he almost lost his mind. He was more than sure that Nikaido had left because he killed Yokoo!”

“What? I don’t get it! He could have just told him, why would he burden himself with this guilt?”

“You know Yokoo was a really nice person! Way too nice for the Underground and even though Fujigaya had done a lot of bad things back then he was still his best friend. He wanted to overthrow him for his own good, but he wouldn’t have been able to live with the burden of betraying him, that is why he sent Nikaido in the first place.”

First anger rose inside of Kentaro, anger against Yokoo for dragging Nikaido inside this mess in the first place, but the anger dissolved the next second as he realized why Nikaido helped him in the first place.

“Nikaido believed that Yokoo was doing the right thing. After all Yokoo was one of the few which could calm Nikaido down and didn’t fear him for what Fujigaya had made out of him.” Ryosuke continued and Kentaro just nodded slightly. “Telling Fujigaya about what had happened would have destroyed Yokoo’s wish of rescuing his friend and it would have taken Nikaido’s life as well.”

“But he will still take his life if he still thinks that he killed Yokoo,” Kentaro whispered in realization, unable to keep his body from starting to shiver on this thought.

“You don’t think he would have done so already then?”

“What do you want to say?” Suddenly hope rose inside of Kentaro again and Ryosuke’s serious face finally turned back into his confident and slightly excited expression. “He is afraid!”

“Of what?”

“He is crazy, that is for sure, but he is not stupid. I don’t think that he knows that Yokoo was about to betray him, but he knows that something is moving inside the Titanium Triangle since Nikaido had vanished.”

“So he wanted Nikaido back to keep you away?” Kentaro asked as he tried to put the pieces together bit by bit.

“Exactly. All the troops lay low for the first years after the war, but not long ago the changes got visible all over the city and the troops got restless. The Fire Foxes tried to get more and more territory and they would randomly attack around the city. That was when the Exposers and myself built an alliance without Fujigaya knowing, but I guess the news travelled faster than we thought.”

“But Nikaido is just one person! He can’t win against all of you just with him by his side.”

“And that is not his plan. He just needs someone to protect his life. He doesn’t care if the rest of his troop gets killed. As long as he can flee!”

As more Kentaro heard about everything going on in the Underground, the more he detested it and its distorted perception of the value of human lives.

“As soon as I get to Nikaido, Fujigaya will be without protection! If you and the Exposers join us we can overthrow them without a problem!”

“Don’t be so sure of that!” Ryosuke warned him. “Nikaido is not the person you might have got to know in your fight club.”

Kentaro was about to protest, but Ryosuke held up his hand with an apologizing look. “Don’t get me wrong! I don’t say that the real Nikaido is the one standing next to Fujigaya, but guilt has overwhelmed him and I guess you have noticed that. Kento has told me about what had happened at the Fire Foxes hideout and after Nikaido had first taken the burden of Yokoo’s death on his shoulders he has ran away from it after he couldn’t deal with it anymore, but now that his past had caught up to him again he is trapped in it until someone drags him out!”

“And that someone will be me!” Kentaro said in a confident voice as he rose to his feet looking at Ryosuke with determined eyes and the next moment the younger one was on his feet as well.

“I told you before, but I REALLY like your eyes and this is also why our alliance is going to beat the crap out of those arrogant foxes!” Ryosuke stretched out his hand towards Kentaro with an excited smile on his lips.

Kentaro reached out for his hand without any hesitation and pulled his hand up with his own so that they were looking over it into each other’s eyes.

“Do whatever you want with those damn bastards, but Fujigaya is mine!” Kentaro demanded and Ryosuke’s smile just got eager with his determination.

“No objection!”

Kentaro wouldn’t let Fujigaya get away with his brain washing, as wouldn’t he let Nikaido get destroyed by his guilt. He had shut himself in for all those years, he had buried his past so deep that not even Kentaro could see it, but now that he was finally aware of what had happened he wouldn’t let him destroy himself. He had never met Yokoo, but after what he had heard he knew that Yokoo wouldn’t want this for Nikaido either. When they weren't able to rescue Fujigaya, they would at least deliver him from his past sins. But Nikaido still had a chance to get saved as long as Kentaro could reach him.


	11. Chapter 11

A heavy silence followed as they ended their last meeting at the hideout. Kento and Fuma had left the room first and no one blamed them. One by one they others also scattered away to their rooms leaving Kentaro with Kitayama again.

Kentaro and Ryosuke had talked to the others about their agreement and after they had come up with an intruding plan they had left the rest to Ryosuke. He had promised to contact Kamenashi and with that they had left.

It wasn’t like they didn’t have a plan, but it was risky and no one knew if it would work out and what would happen if they failed. It wasn’t like they could just storm inside the Fire Foxes’ hideout and rip it to pieces. For that it was too well guarded and the number of members was way too big even with two other groups attacking at the same time. Their priority was to get Nikaido out first and with a huge fight taking place they would risk him getting killed before Kentaro would reach him.

“Are you worried that it won’t work?” Kitayama asked after they had been sitting at the table in silence for a while, both of them too tense to just go to bed as they had to take the biggest responsibility in their plan.

“Worried about you betraying me,” Kentaro replied in a low voice.

Kitayama nodded and leant back on his chair with a serious expression. Even though they had have a talk about this before and Kentaro could read his expression quite well he was still afraid that he would just turn against them and take away his chance to get Nikaido out of there.

“On the other hand I hope you know how serious the situation is!”

“What do you mean?” Kitayama asked confused as Kentaro’s look turned darker.

“If you just show a little bit mercy tomorrow we will get discovered. Even if you have to cut off one of my hands to prove that you are still one hundred percent with them, you will do it!”

Kitayama’s eyes widened on the boy's determination, but he was right. Kitayama would bring Kentaro inside the Fire Foxes’ hideout as a prisoner, but just one wrong move would blow their cover and reveal Kitayama’s role as a traitor.

“Easy for you to say…”

“And easy for you to do!”

Kentaro finally got up and moved towards the stairs, but he turned towards Kitayama once more who gave him a worried look. “You have one night to get your ability back to lie to me! If I can see through you, they can as well!”

Kentaro walked up to his room without waiting for him to reply something. He had made up his mind and he wouldn’t hold back to save Nikaido and if Kitayama would really stay to his word and help him he should also not hold back to hurt him to actually help him.

***

“Can’t sleep?” Ueda asked as he sat down on the bed after Taiga had left for their room earlier already. But now the boy was lying on the bed with his arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling with a worried look.

“I feel like I can’t do anything to help Kentaro and honestly after all he has done for me over the last months it feels awful!”

“Hey just because you are not running in there to drag Nikaido out yourself, doesn’t mean you are not doing anything! We are their back-up and as soon as we know that they got to Nikaido we will attack.”

Taiga turned towards him as he shifted closer to put his hand on the younger one’s cheek. Ueda smiled at him, but the boy didn’t return it.

“Even if we attack them, I doubt that I will be of much help.”

“Since when did you become that negatively?” Ueda asked worried as he lay down next to him.

“Since I’ve realized how weak I am. Whatever happens I am normally the person getting hurt the most and brings everyone in even more danger by getting taken hostage.”

“That has nothing to do with being weak! Let me take you back to reality to tell you that in case you have forgotten you faced a stronger opponent with Jesse, you were hurt already when Tamamori and the others intruded the club and Fujigaya has a whole yakuza troop behind him against none of us had a chance. We all lost that day!”

“And I almost lost you, because I wasn’t strong enough!”

“Taiga!” Ueda scolded him, but the boy turned his back at him. Even as Ueda shifted closer and put his hand on Taiga’s shoulder the boy refused to turn back again. “There’s something else, right?”

“Now I’m not even weak, but also obvious, great,” Taiga whispered and Ueda could hear that he hadn’t intended to talk about what was bothering him.

“What is it? You can tell me!” Ueda said in a soothing voice, but Taiga shook his head. “You scolded me so often for not telling you all my worries. Why are you doing the same now? Especially when we don’t know what will happen tomorrow.”

“It is exactly because we don’t know and I don’t want you to misunderstand my reasons.”

Ueda blinked at him in confusion, but he was still not looking up at him so it wasn’t that easy to make sense out what he was saying. A short silence followed in which Ueda wasn’t sure what to say, but as he thought about it for a moment he finally understood what he meant which didn’t make it easier for him to continue this conversation. He let out a sigh and backed off a little bit to sit up and rest his back against the wall. Taiga turned around and he realized right away that Ueda had understood what he was talking about.

“I knew you would show this reaction, that is why I didn’t want to bring up the topic in the first place,” Taiga said in a hurt voice as he sat up as well now looking at Ueda with a kind of judging look.

“You really have the worst timing with topics like this.”

“I told you it’s not because of tomorrow! This is no desperate move, because I think we might not survive. Even though we really might not…” Taiga added in a low voice and Ueda looked at him understanding, but that didn’t mean that he would just say yes.

“We just found back together and we have a lot to face tomorrow, shouldn’t we talk about this again as soon as everything has calmed down?” Ueda tried to reason with him, but the death glare which hit him told him that it was the wrong thing to say. He had tried to talk Taiga out of confessing to him in the same way and it had almost ruined everything. But now that Taiga was obviously determined to take the next step Ueda was the one to get insecure about what to do, especially because Taiga didn’t realize himself that even though he said it was okay, it wasn’t.

“You know how it feels when Kentaro and the others make their jokes about it being a bad idea to dash inside our room at night so they wouldn’t interfere anything, while the only thing they would actually interfere is us being asleep?” Taiga scolded him and Ueda knew that he wouldn’t let him run away from this conversation.

“I am not saying that we shouldn’t take it further. All I am saying is that we should wait a little bit longer!”

“Waiting for what?” Taiga asked impatient, but he didn’t even let Ueda reply before he continued. “You are the only one who wants to wait, but you don’t even know what you are waiting for! Isn’t it enough that I say it is okay!?”

“Is it?” Ueda asked making Taiga growl in annoyance.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“The question is if you have sorted this matter out with you clearly from the start?” Ueda replied making Taiga narrow his eyes.

“You really think I would ask if I weren't sure of wanting this!”

“I don’t doubt that you want this, but what I doubt is that you can deal with your past and not just try to lock it away desperately, because like this I am not going to take any kind of action.”

“I trust you!”

“That’s not the point! This is about you and not about me! I can’t help you when you haven’t straighten out things with yourself. Look at Kentaro, running away and hiding hasn’t helped him at all.” Ueda got angry as Taiga tried to put this decision on him. Ueda was patient with him and he would help wherever he could, but his past was something Taiga alone could deal with.

“I talked to Kentaro about everything! It’s not like I am running away from my past.” Taiga replied angry, but Ueda didn’t miss the way Taiga started to look away more often than before.

“And still I know you good enough to see that you are not ready, because I being patient with you can help you with locking your emotions away, but it won’t help you with finally breaking free from them.”

“As if I could forget about something like that!”

“I am not telling you to, what I mean is that trying to lock them away is something different from being completely aware of what happened and to move on, without giving that shadow the opportunity to haunt you.”

“And I told you that I am at that point already! Kentaro could deal with it in some weeks, what makes you think I can’t deal with it after years? Didn’t you just try to convince me that I am not as weak as I think?”

“Physical strength has nothing to do with this topic! And Kentaro had not to deal with the same thing you have to! Please can’t we just talk about this when we are not this stressed? Like this we will have an argument without even wanting to,” Ueda said as he tried to get up from the bed, because he was about to lose his patience and the last thing he wanted to was yelling at Taiga. And if the boy wasn't get convinced like this he would need to leave for some time before he could do something stupid. 

“No, I am not going to let this topic drop again!” Taiga hissed and got up on his knees reaching out for Ueda’s wrist as he was already up on his feet. “You can’t make me wait all the time, because you are afraid to hurt me!”

“We are not talking about something easy like a kiss here, Taiga! I don’t think that I would hurt you, I know it!” Ueda raised his voice and tried to make Taiga let go off him, but he wouldn’t.

“I know that, for god’s sake! I am not stupid! But as long as you-“

“Damnit, Taiga. I told you this is not about me, but about YOU!”

“But you-“

The next moment Taiga found himself tackled back on the bed with Ueda sitting on top of him. He had forcefully thrown him down and pinned his wrists next to his head. He didn’t even give Taiga a second to get what was going on before he crushed their lips together and he could already feel how Taiga tensed under his rough movements. But he wouldn’t stop here even though it was ripping him apart that he had to make his point clear for once and for all by going this far to finally make Taiga realize that it wouldn’t be that easy. He couldn’t just think that the whole world would handle him with kid gloves so that he didn’t have to face his own past.

Taiga didn’t kiss him back and even as Ueda let go of his wrists he didn’t reach out for him. But Ueda tried hard to ignore the way Taiga had tensed and without giving his own body the chance to refuse he moved one hand directly to Taiga’s pants. That was when Taiga tried to turn away his face, but Ueda wouldn’t let him, grabbing his hair with one hand to hold him in place.

The moment he had opened his pants and tried to strip Taiga out of them, the boy finally started struggling with all his might and let out a small scream as he finally succeeded in turning away his face. That was also the moment Ueda allowed his body to back off as it wanted to the whole time. He removed his hands right away as Taiga pushed him up and crawled away under him. He was breathing hard and his hands were shaking as he grabbed the sheets obviously trying to stop his body from jumping up, to get more distance between them.

Ueda looked at him with an apologizing, but also scolding look. And he knew that Taiga had finally gotten his point. This was definitely not the wisest thing to do, especially not one day before they would have to concentrate on their mission, but sooner or later he would have had to open Taiga’s eyes anyway. He just regretted that he had to take it this far. On the other hand he knew that Taiga was way stronger than he thought, but the boy had to find that out by himself. Just this one time he couldn’t help him with that even though it was ripping him apart inside.

“Good night,” was the only thing he could think of saying as he lay down on the bed turning away from Taiga, who was still sitting totally perplex on the edge of the bed. He wanted to say sorry, he wanted to take him in his arms and stroke over his hair to tell him that everything was alright and that he would never do something like this again, but then Taiga would just crawl back in his shell which Ueda had protected and he couldn’t let this happen. No one knew when they would lose each other for good and this time Ueda wanted to make sure that Taiga would be able to face the future without him.

As Taiga moved on the other side of the bed Ueda was sure that he would leave the room to sleep at the meeting space, but surprise was written all over his face when Taiga’s back touched his as he threw a blanket over both of them.

“Good night,” Taiga let out in a shaking voice and even though Ueda felt like the worst person existing he was so proud of Taiga for making the first step without any hesitation. That was why Taiga was strong! This was what made him stronger than every one of them, but there was no need to tell him, because it seemed like he would finally have gotten that himself.

***

“Shouldn’t you have slept a little bit longer?” Tegoshi asked as he stepped down into the meeting room seeing how Kentaro was sitting at the table already. It was obvious that he didn’t get enough sleep at all, but he just shook his head giving the older one a faint smile.

“Like this my role as a hostage gets more realistic and I won’t get the stupid idea to defend myself,” Kentaro replied teasing.

“And what when you really have to defend yourself?” Massu asked serious as he came down the stairs.

“I guess if that happens, we have messed up somewhere.”

“Or we got betrayed.” Tegoshi countered and Kentaro let out a sigh knowing that their worries weren’t unfounded.

“Anyways, we will be there to fight as well, so don’t worry!” Massu explained as he sat down opposite of Kentaro with a smile. “And we are completely charged with energy so leave the fighting to us.”

“Or you still have energy left?” Tegoshi asked teasing as he sat down next to him, leaning towards him so much that they were way too close for a normal conversation. “Then I might have done something wrong last night!”

“I guess we have to change positions more often so that I get more tired,” Massu replied as he leant forward as well so that their lips were almost touching.

“Don’t! Not so early in the morning, please!” On Fuma’s scolding voice they backed off at the last moment and Kentaro escaped a small chuckle as Fuma stepped inside the room together with Kento. “Can’t you leave your private life in your room?”

“That doesn’t help so much with yours! We could hear you in our room and there is one in between!” Massu responded and Kento blushed right away making Tegoshi laugh out loud.

“Yes and that room was ours, so thank you again for letting us know more details through the wall than we ever got through looking,” Juri snorted as he also arrived at the meeting space together with Kochi.

“Don’t complain, you were the ones to bring us together in the first place!” Fuma shot back gaining chuckles from everyone gathered in the room. But as Kitayama stepped down the stairs they fell silent again and the atmosphere darkened.

But as always Kitayama wouldn’t let himself get distracted by it and he walked up to Kentaro who looked up at him with a serious glance. Normally Kitayama’s look softened when he was around Kentaro, everyone had realized that, but now it felt like he had completely changed back into his cold behavior which he had shown to him as he and Shige had tricked him.

“Did you manage to do what I asked of you?” Kentaro asked serious.

“No, I didn’t and to be honest I don’t really care if this works out or not! You play your part and I play mine. If something goes wrong, you are on your own!” Kitayama responded cold.

“What the hell?” Fuma hissed at him as he was about to make a step forward, but Tegoshi held him back as he saw how Kentaro’s serious look fell and was replaced by a lopsided smile.

“Perfect!”

“Thanks.”

Kitayama sat down next to Kentaro and everyone stared at them perplex. Except for Tegoshi and Massu who had gotten what was going on, but before the others could ask, Ueda and Taiga finally joined them as well.

“Wow, you look like shit. Everything alright?” Juri asked right away without any hesitation as both of them looked extremely tired. But they just shared a short glance before looking away again making it clear to everyone that they didn’t want to speak about it.

“I guess we are all really exhausted and couldn’t sleep that well last night,” Kochi interfered before someone else could ask something and Taiga looked more than relived about it. Koch gave him a short side glance, but turned towards the others again. “We should get going now that we are all here. The sooner we meet with the Exposers and Reapers the better!”

No one complained and Kitayama and Kentaro were the first ones to get up and walk out the room. The others followed one by one, but as Taiga wanted to follow them Kochi stopped him, waiting until everyone else was outside already.

“Everything alright?” Kochi asked suddenly, but Taiga just nodded briefly. “Okay wait, let me ask this another way. “Everything right between you and Ueda? Because I passed by your room yesterday night and I was seriously about to break open the door for a moment.”

Taiga’s eyes grew wide on what he had said, but then he relaxed again and to Kochi’s surprise he gave him a small slap on the shoulder and a brief smile.

“Thank you for worrying and that you keep an eye on me and the others so well, but trust me when I say this time it is really okay and you don’t have to worry! Or more like I am going to make it okay!”

Kochi believed him right away as he saw the determination in the other one’s eyes and he hit him lightly against the arm before walking over to the door.

“Then let’s go, we have to rescue someone!”


	12. Chapter 12

The tension in the hideout of the Reapers was almost cutting through the air and even though both leaders were wearing a calm expression Kentaro could feel that it wasn’t easy for those two troops to work together. But on the other hand it showed how dangerous the Fire Foxes were.

While Kamenashi greeted them all friendly and exchanged a few words with Kitayama about their plan, Ryosuke’s eyes had landed on Kento right away resulting with Fuma stepping in front of him and Juri and Kochi holding him back before he could even think of making a move. Luckily Ryosuke didn’t seem to mind their reaction as he turned towards Kentaro as the boy approached him.

“I see you are more than ready to go through with this plan!” Ryosuke said with his typical smile. Of course he could spot Kentaro’s determination right away that was also why he had come up with this plan in the first place. “But you know there is one thing I don’t like about this plan!”

“That would be?” Kentaro asked kind of alarmed.

“That if everything works as planned it won’t be fun at all, because my group doesn’t have to interfere before the fun part is over,” Ryosuke replied a little bit sulky and it made Kentaro smile.

“Okay everybody, let’s get this over with!” Kamenashi announced and everyone fell silent. “My troop’s spy has found out that to our advantage Fujigaya is not at the main hideout at the moment, so we don’t have to lure him away. AND to make it even easier for us, he left Nikaido in charge of the hideout!”

Kentaro’s heart skipped a beat on the mention of his name, but unfortunately not in a positive way. Because leaving him in charge of the hideout meant that Fujigaya had succeeded in making him obedient in the worst way. He didn’t even want to imagine how messed up Nikaido was.

“Hey, don’t worry!” Taiga said as he stepped next to him. He gave him a supporting nod and Kentaro tried to smile at him, but it wouldn’t come out as convincing as he would like it to.

“It just feels too easy, you know? Walking in there, okay that is possible. Finding him won’t be such a problem either. But just telling him to come back with me sounds too easy to be true.”

“But we made it until here and we won’t stop at nothing to bring him home!” Taiga’s serious words made Kentaro stare at him for a moment. Since he had gotten back to Ueda’s side he had become a little bit insecure and Kentaro had understood the reason of course and he would never blame him. They had found back together, but the danger was still not over and Kentaro wasn’t even sure if he would have blamed Taiga if he would have backed out with Ueda. But now Taiga’s eyes were shining with a determination which wasn’t just directed to their mission, but was definitely also connected to Ueda and it finally made Kentaro smile.

“Thank you!” Kentaro said while squeezing his friend’s shoulder.

“Always here for you!”

“Same!”

As Kitayama stepped in front of them, their faces turned serious again and all eyes rested on Kentaro the next moment.

“Are you ready to go?” Kitayama asked and there was no emotion left in his voice and nothing showing on his face. He made sure that he would do everything to bring Kentaro inside the hideout without blowing their cover.

“Always!” Kentaro replied in a steady voice.

“Okay so the Reapers will cause some uproar at the club Fujigaya is in at the moment. The Exposers will make sure that they can’t send any people back to the hideout and while Kitayama and Kentaro go for the hideout directly, you guys will wait outside and please don’t do anything stupid! You are back-up, but not for a frontal attack. I know it is much to ask of, but if something goes wrong, make sure to get everyone out safe, nothing more! We will retreat as soon as something goes wrong!” As always Kamenashi was the voice of reason in their troop and no one would disobey his order, because truth was that even though they didn’t like the idea of sitting on stand-by and letting the others do all the work, they were needed as well, because the possibility of something going wrong was there and it wasn’t as small as they would like it to be.

“Don’t mess up!” Fuma said as he stepped next to Kentaro followed by the others. “We didn’t come after you to fail in bringing the last one back!”

“Don’t worry, I cannot fail, because I don’t want you to dash inside there and mess everything up!” Kentaro responded teasing. He held up his hand and Fuma grabbed it pulling Kentaro closer to hug him.

“Then don’t give me a reason to dash in there!” Fuma said serious as he let go of him again.

“We count on you!” Juri said as he held up his hand and Kentaro slapped his against his palm.

“But don’t get nervous, because of us! We are waiting patiently. If it takes some time don’t get unfocused,” Kochi warned him and Kentaro nodded at him with a knowing look.

“Please be careful!” Kento added in a low voice and Kentaro hit him lightly against the shoulder.

“I will, promise! You helped me more than enough already. I will do my best to not drag you in this again!”

Kento’s look fell on Ryosuke for a moment before he looked over to Fuma who’s attention was luckily on Kentaro for now. But he looked up at Kentaro with an encouraging smile before Kentaro turned to talk to Tegoshi, Massu and Ueda as well.

“Don’t let yourself get scared by the way Nikaido might be at the moment! You know him the best, so you are the only one who can make him snap out of it!” Ueda explained and Kentaro knew that he was absolutely right.

“I will do everything to bring him back!”

“Except for dying, please! Because that won’t help us!” Massu interfered getting a slap on the back of his head from Tegoshi right away.

“Don’t worry, as long as there is the chance to bring him back, I won’t give up!” Kentaro replied with a light smile, but it was Taiga whose face turned darker on his statement. The next moment he stepped forward to hug him one last time.

“I know we gave each other a promise, but please remember that whatever happens we are all here waiting for you! We will be here for you! So please think twice about each decision you make,” Taiga whispered next to his ear so that the others couldn’t hear him and hearing those words from Taiga made Kentaro grab the back of the latter's shirt with shaking hands. He nodded against his shoulder taking a deep breath.

“I won’t give you any reason to worry about me again, I promise!” Kentaro whispered and Taiga gave him a clap on the back before he let go of him. He stepped back to the others and Kentaro gave them a last nod before he went over to Kitayama to leave for the Fire Foxes’ hideout without turning around again.

This was his task and he wouldn’t disappoint them. They had all agreed on helping him until this point, making sacrifices he couldn’t even ask for, so now it was his turn to finally bring them all back together.

***

"What the hell is this, a hospital?" Kentaro asked confused after Kitayama had led the way towards an old building which looked like a hospital which hadn't been used in ages and was also slightly damaged through the war. A few windows were missing and some parts of the walls have crumbled. "I would say it fits Fujigaya's character, but I liked his hideout from before way more."

"Shall I tell you the most ironic part of this hideout? It was a _mental_ hospital before."

"So fitting...."

"But Fujigaya is at one of our clubs at the moment so this is the best shot we have," Kitayama explained and even though he had successfully turned back to his insensitive self for this mission Kentaro didn't miss how he was shifting uncomfortable next to him.

"Would you stop it?" Kentaro hissed at him and for a moment Kitayama look turned apologizing.

"I'm just not sure if you know what you're getting yourself into."

"Why would you even care? It's not like you would have the problem if we get discovered. You can still pretend that you knew of nothing."

Kitayama frowned on which Kentaro lifted an eyebrow on him. "This is not what I meant. You might think you can jump into Nikaido's arms and he will happily follow you out there. But I want you to be prepared for the worst case."

"Which would be?" Kentaro asked impatient as anger rose inside him.

"That he will ignore you. Pretend that he doesn't even know you. He might even attack-"

"Okay, stop!" Kentaro rose his hand, but Kitayama kept a straigth face showing that he meant what he said. "I don't want to assume the wildest things without even trying, okay? Could you now please turn into the asshole you were when you killed my friend? Because you will be guilty for this forever, so you can at least atone for it by playing your part as convincing as possible. Oh wait, you don't have to play it, because you are a fire fox after all and stuff like this is part of your nature I guess." Kentaro didn't even try to hide the mocking tone in his voice and as Kitayama's look darkened he knew that he had made his point clear. He was going through with this plan whatever would await him inside there. "Then let's go!" Kentaro turned away from him, but as he had made a few steps towards the building he found himself violently pulled back by the hair. He let out yelp as Kitayama turned one arm on his back pulling his head backwards to be able to whisper into his ear.

"You are not going anywhere. I will bring you in, because after all you are not more than a prisoner!" Kitayama said in an emotionless voice, which made Kentaro's lip turn into a lopsided smile for a moment before he played along as Kitayama pushed him inside the building.

It was good that Kitayama had succeeded in turning back into the person which had betrayed his trust so that they had a chance of their plan working out, but on the other hand Kentaro felt weird as he knew that from now on he wouldn’t be able to tell if Kitayama was lying or not, so he would also not know if he would betray him. But for Nikaido’s sake he would take the risk and he wouldn’t back out even if he had to drag Nikaido out there with all his might through Fujigaya’s brainwashing.

***

“I don’t like this!” Fuma complained as he kicked the wall at the alley where they were supposed to wait for Kentaro and Kitayama to return with Nikaido, but even though no one said it out loud they weren’t really that optimistic about their plan working out that easily.

“Yes you said that about ten times already, but it had barley been half an hour, so would you shut up?” Kochi snarled at him and with him losing his patience it was clear to everyone how messed up the situation was.

“If you start fighting now, I’ll make you leave!” Ueda hissed at them and silence followed right away. Waiting was bad enough, but not being there would be even worse so the boys tried to calm down. “You on the other hand are too calm for my likings, everything alright?”

Taiga didn’t even move as Ueda stepped next to him. He had leant at the entrance of the alley watching over the old warehouse buildings which were between them and the hospital. Kamenashi’s troop was on the other side of the area blocking Fujigaya’s way in case that he would come back. Juri and Kento were also with them so that they could inform them as soon as Fujigaya would really come back. Tegoshi and Massu were with Ryosuke, also in charge of passing news between the three different locations in case something went wrong. Of course Fuma was the one pissed the most about Kento getting in a team without him, but he couldn’t stay as cool as the other ones when it was about his beloved one, so they didn’t even give him the chance to discuss this topic. Either he would go with the plan or stay behind. On the other hand Taiga didn’t look that happy to be around Ueda, especially not after what had happened the night before. Ueda felt a little bit stupid for asking him in the first palce if he was alright, because he definitely wasn't and he was the reason for that.

“I am just concentrating,” Taiga finally replied and Ueda looked over his shoulder to Kochi and Fuma, but the two boys had sat down on the floor trying to calm down not spending them any attention.

“You don’t have to be here! You can wait at the hideout as well if you want!”

Taiga shot him a death glare the next moment on which Ueda sighed about to back off again, but to his surprise Taiga grabbed his sleeve before he could step back. His face was still serious and his look was directed to the warehouses, but Ueda could see that Taiga’s inner fight was bigger than he would let show.

“Kentaro helped me through a lot over the past months. I was about to fall apart and thanks to him I made it to this point,” Taiga started and Ueda listened patiently as he let his back drop on the wall next to Taiga. “Our reunion is thanks to him and my first priority is to get him and Nikaido back together. I can’t do much, but I can at least try!”

Finally he turned around to Ueda and looked him directly into the eyes and the determination he saw made the older one's heart skip a beat before he took another deep breath.

“But as soon as we are all able to go back home, as soon as we can finally leave this mess behind I will keep fighting for us! I am not afraid and I am not running away!”

Ueda nodded slowly and the next moment Taiga turned away from him again as if this conversation wouldn’t have happened. Just as the boy wasn’t facing him anymore he cracked a small bitter smile. Sure he knew that he was strong, but again he had surprised him. He hadn’t thought that Taiga’s determination would win over his insecurity this fast.

Ueda stepped away from the wall about to walk back to Fuma and Kochi, but he looked over his shoulder once more. “As soon as you are ready!”

There was no reaction, but Ueda knew that he had heard him. For now Kentaro and Nikaido were their first priority and their personal problems had to stand second, but Ueda was sure that Taiga would face everything straight on from now on and maybe they would be able to make the next step sooner than he expected.

***

The hospital looked even worse from the inside and Kentaro wondered how Fujigaya was able to keep his troop together, because normally every sane person would have never set foot in this building especially not regularly. But after all the Fire Foxes seemed to be as insane as their leader, but on that thought Kentaro felt nauseous right away as he had to remind himself that Nikaido had been or more like was a Fire Foxes’ member as well. But thanks to the talk he had with Ryosuke he had enough background knowledge to know that Nikaido would normally choose another life if he wouldn’t have ended up here in the first place. Kentaro could be lucky that he himself hadn’t ended up at the yakuza after the war. He didn’t even want to imagine how he would have changed through an environment like this. He had been at dangerous places as well, but it had been different from what he had to face now.  

He was ripped out of his thoughts as he heard people laughing and shouting at the end of the corridor. Kitayama hadn’t spoken a word since they have entered the building and as they reached a heavy metal door at the end of the corridor he pushed him inside the room with more force than needed making Kentaro stumble and almost fall.

“Oh what an unusual guest. We don’t see you around that often anymore, Kitayama,” one of the three men which were sitting in the middle of the room on a big wooden table with a lot of papers tossed all over it, greeted him with a dangerous smile. “And you even bring company.”

“He is no company, but some stupid kid which was sneaking around. And don’t tell me that I am not around that often, you are not better Yaotome.”

“But I am not sneaking away like you do! Everyone knows that I go out to have some fun,” Yaotome countered as he put his feet on the table, obviously not even interested in Kentaro’s presence.

“And your “fun” which ends in fights with other troops when you get too drunk brings us in huge trouble each time,” one of the others scolded him as he stood up to collect the papers from the table to put them to the side.

“Says the one who has his “fun” at Kamenashi’s bars! Come on Inoo, you are worse than him!” The third one scolded them with a teasing smile on his lips.

“Just because you get along with everyone and just smile apologizing when you have a sudden encounter with another troop doesn’t mean that everyone can do this, Arioka!”

“But I really don’t get what is so hard about making puppy eyes and when it doesn’t work you run!” Daiki explained and Kentaro just wondered how those three ended up at the Fire Foxes, because they didn’t seem to be as weird as Fujigaya. But on the other hand he got fooled by Kitayama in the beginning as well, so he knew better than trust them even a little bit.

“What is the ruckus about? There I am in a meeting with Nikaido for a few minutes and everything turns upside down here!” A fourth person said as he stepped inside the room. He stopped next to Kitayama and they exchanged a short glance and Kentaro could see right away that he mistrusted Kitayama. His absent hadn’t gone unnoticed and while the others didn’t seem to care the young man next to him which seemed to be the youngest of them all was definitely the closest to blow their cover.

“Hasshi, why do you always have to run around with such a scary face and ruin the mood?” Yaotome asked pouting, but Hasshi ignored him completely as his look fell on Kentaro who hadn’t even realized that he was staring at him. Not because he was interested at him as a person, but because he had just said Nikaido’s name and he waited for him to spill more, but his interest had made the other one suspicious and Kentaro looked to the ground right away.

“Who is the boy?” Hasshi asked Kitayama as he stepped closer to Kentaro, but he still didn’t dare to look up afraid that he would blow their cover instead of Kitayama.

“He sneaked around the building,” Kitayama replied neutral.

“And that would be why?” First Kentaro thought he had addressed Kitayama, but of course the question was meant for him and as he didn’t answer, Hasshi grabbed his chin to make him look up at him. “I asked you something!”

A shiver went down his spin on the dangerous look Hasshi gave him, but he just kept staring, because whatever excuse he would make up, the other one would see through it right away, so staying silent was his best shot for now.

“Mh, a tough one, I see!” Hasshi let go of him and passed him as if he would have lost interest in him, but as Kentaro relaxed a little bit and looked up at Kitayama there was a spilt second where the latter’s perfect mask seemed to fall and the next moment Kentaro understood why as he heard a shot and a sudden pain went through the side of his tight making him scream out and fall to his knees.

Hasshi had turned back to him and pulled out a gun shooting him without any kind of hesitation and the fact that Kitayama didn’t even try to stop him made clear that Hasshi was definitely in a higher position than him.

Kentaro covered the wound with his hand and as he realized that it was just a graze he relaxed a little bit. He didn’t know if he had really aimed or if it was a coincidence that the wound wasn’t too bad, but he had not time to think about it as Hasshi kicked him from behind so that he landed on the ground. He turned on his back and the next moment Hasshi was standing over him, the gun pointed at his head.

“I hate to ask a second time!” He growled in a dangerous voice, but this time Kentaro stayed silent, because he didn’t know what else to do. He could see the same crazy attitude as Fujigaya’s in the boy’s eyes and he knew that every wrong word could result in getting killed.

“You really have to get this dramatic? What if he just lost his way? It is not like this place screams “yakuza hideout” you know!” Arioka interfered and even though he didn’t try to stop Hasshi the latter stepped away, putting the gun away as if nothing happened.

“Then you keep an eye on him until Fujigaya is back. I have better things to do than waste my time with some stupid boy!”

“How about you let Nikaido deal with him?” Kitayama finally dared to say and Hasshi’s eyes threw daggers at him the next moment.

“Just because Fujigaya trusts him doesn’t mean I have to do the same! He stays here until Fujigaya is back!”

“You are not allowed to make that decision! You are not Fujigaya’s right hand, Nikaido is. So I am going to report to him, not to you!” Kitayama replied in a dangerous voice and Kentaro wondered how Hasshi didn’t kill Kitayama until now, because it was more than obvious that he had seen through him. But that he mistrusted Nikaido as well let Kentaro hope that his protector was after all not as deeply involved in this as Kitayama pretended.

The next moment Hasshi walked up to Kitayama taking him by the collar, but the latter didn’t even react. “You don’t tell me what I am allowed to do and what not!”

“Someone has to, because otherwise you get above yourself and even if you think you can take over the Fire Foxes, you are overestimating your own abilities!”

Now Kentaro got at least why he had the same attitude as Fujigaya. If he tried to take over he would of course imitate Fujigaya’s behavior as he seemed to not want to overthrow him, but to be appreciated by him.

“I can show you my abilities right here!” Hasshi shot back as he was about to draw his gun again.

“Hasshi!” Yaotome hissed in a dangerous voice and luckily the one in question let go of Kitayama before the situation could escalate. They were lucky that the other three were in the room as well, because Kentaro feared that if they were alone with Hasshi they would be dead by now. Kentaro sat up, but still didn’t dare to get to his feet again.

“Bring him to Nikaido. Let him decide what to do with him and if he wants to wait for Fujigaya then we’ll have an eye on him until then,” Yaotome said as Hasshi dropped to a chair next to him crossing his arms in front of his chest, but as Yaotome shot him an angry glare he just looked away kicking one of the empty chairs away.

“Do as you like!” Hasshi hissed and Kitayama didn’t wait for the others to say anything else as he dragged Kentaro to his feet and pushed him out the backdoor of the room. As the door fell shut behind them Kentaro took a deep breath as if he had forgotten to breathe over the whole time.

“Still no time to relax! The problem starts from now!” Kitayama whispered as he pushed Kentaro towards the closest staircase. They walked up to the next floor in silence and as an open double door came into their sight at the end of the corridor Kentaro slowed down without even wanting to. The room was quite big compared to the one they had walked in earlier. While all the other rooms seemed to be normal patient rooms or old surgery rooms, this one had something like a stage at the end. Maybe it had been used as a community room. And of course Kentaro didn’t miss the couch at the middle of the stage and the figure sitting on it, in the way too dark room.

Kitayama pushed him towards the room as he realized that he was about to freeze to the spot as he of course knew who was the one sitting there. The moment he had succeeded in pushing him inside the room he shut the door behind them.

“What are you doing? Go! We don’t have the whole day!” Kitayama had successfully snapped out of it and even though Kentaro should be happy that he really didn’t try to betray him he could do nothing but stare towards the couch.

Of course the other one had noticed their presence, but he hadn’t looked up yet and Kentaro wondered if he had realized that it was him. But even though he had thought he would be relieved and happy the moment he would find him, something felt weird and fear rose inside of him. The fear that Kitayama’s warnings were about to come true.

“Kentaro, go!” Kitayama shouted at him impatiently even though it was obvious that he was empathizing with his struggle, but they had no time and finally Kentaro dared to make a few steps towards him while Kitayama remained at the door listening if someone would follow them.

Months he had been searching for him. Several times he had been about giving up. One time he had even thought he was dead and now he was finally right in front of him.

“Nikaido...?” Kentaro asked in a shaking voice as he stopped a few steps away from the low stage. He could step on it without a problem, but his feet refused to move. The other one was facing the ground, but on Kentaro’s voice there was an almost invisible movement running through his body. It seemed like he was fighting with himself if he should react or not and it made Kentaro feel worse with each passing second.

“I-, I came to bring you home…” Kentaro let out in a low voice as he didn’t really know what else to say and he was surprised as he realized that he had started crying. It wasn’t relief which made him this emotional all of a sudden, because they were far from being able to feel relieved. But just the fact that his hopes had become true and Nikaido was still alive and finally so close to him again made a huge burden drop from his heart, revealing all the emotions he had tried to lock up over all those months.

“Nikaido?” As there was still no reaction Kentaro finally dared to step on the stage, just a few meters remaining between them. He stretched out his arm trying to stop his hand from shaking, but it wouldn’t work. “Please, come back with me!”

Still no reaction.

“Please…”

And finally Nikaido looked up and Kentaro froze as their eyes met. There was nothing left in them. There was no trace of the Nikaido he had known until now. All those small signs he could normally read on his face which showed that he was just pretending to not feel anything have vanished and he seemed like a puppet, nothing more.

As Nikaido stood up, Kentaro took away his hand, stepping back automatically. He had thought that he had been afraid of him some times until now, but seeing him like this he was terrified for the first time! It seemed like he wouldn’t even recognize him, making it hard for Kentaro to even find his voice again.

“You don’t have to stay here! You don’t have to do this anymore! Please just come back with me!” Kentaro knew that he had not much time to have a long discussion with him, but he also didn’t know what else to say. It seemed like no words would reach him at all.

“Kitayama, why did you bring him here?” Nikaido asked and the sound of his voice made Kentaro flinch. It hurt that he didn’t address him directly and ignored his questions.

“You know why! Got damnit Nikaido, snap out of it, would you? I’ve not played along all those months to let our efforts go to waste!”

Kentaro waited for Nikaido to say something, to ask who else was involved and if everyone was okay, but there was no reaction at all, his face remained a mask.

“I will let it pass this time, so bring him out and make sure that he doesn’t step on Fire Foxes’ territories ever again,” Nikaido ordered as he was about to pass Kentaro, but that was the moment when Kentaro finally snapped as he did all the time when Nikaido had ignored him when they had met the first time.

“Nikaido, stop ignoring me!” He shouted at the latter grabbing his arm, but he regretted it right away as Nikaido swirled around grabbing him by the throat and pulled him so close that he could feel his breath on his face.

“Be happy that I let you go! If you come back again I will let Fujigaya handle you!” Nikaido’s voice was emotionless and Kentaro couldn’t even reply anything as he had already problems to breathe as Nikaido’s grip got even tighter.

“NIKAIDO!” Kitayama dashed over to them, but before he could interfere Nikaido had thrown Kentaro into his direction so that he had to catch him as he fell off the stage.

“Out! Now!” Nikaido growled, but to Kitayama’s surprise Kentaro jumped up again as Nikaido was about to turn away from them again. He jumped back on the stage to block his way.

“I am not going without you!” Kentaro wasn’t sure from where he took the confidence to face Nikaido straight on again, because he wasn’t even sure if he could reach him or if there was anything left to reach at all. But he had gone through too much shit to stop here.

Before he could try to convince him to come with him though, he found himself on the ground a burning pain on his cheek. Nikaido’s fist wasn’t even shaking after he had hit him, but Kentaro just shot up again grabbing Nikaido by his collar, shaking him violently.

“SNAP OUT OF IT! I DIDN’T GO THROUGH SO MUCH TO LEAVE YOU BEHIND!” But again his words didn’t show any effect and Nikaido grabbed his hands to make him let go of him.

“And I told you to leave,” Nikaido shouted back as he tried to push him back towards Kitayama, who remained at the bottom of the stage knowing that even if he interfered he couldn’t really help. Knocking Nikaido out wouldn’t be that easy and they wouldn’t be able to carry him all the way out without getting noticed, so they had to convince him to follow them on his free will, but that seemed impossible in his current state. He had shut his emotions in completely and Kentaro knew that they had no time left to make him snap out of it.

Kentaro tried his best to stop Nikaido from pushing him off the stage again, but of course Nikaido was stronger and he lost orientation for a moment as he pulled him towards the other direction to throw him on the couch instead. Kentaro hit his head on the wooden armrest and let out a sharp breath, but Nikaido didn’t seem to care.

“Kitayama, if you don’t get him out, I will make sure that you won’t survive Fujigaya’s punishment when I tell him that you betrayed us.”

“Betrayed? Nikaido you ran away from this place in the first place! Here is your chance to leave it all behind, why won’t you take it?”

“I SAID GET HIM OUT!” Nikaido finally freaked, dragging Kentaro up to his feet on his hair, but Kentaro grasped his waist not letting himslef get thrown off the stage again.

“I WON’T LEAVE WITHOUT YOU!”

“YES YOU WILL!”

The next moment it was Kentaro who had lunged out for a punch and he had hit Nikaido in the face, but the latter didn’t even look startled by it. “Cut it out, please…” The sound of his voice didn’t match his actions as it was broken and sad, but Nikaido still didn’t react. “Come with me! Please, come-“ The sudden sound made them all flinch and finally there was a reaction! Finally a hint of worry on his face, but unfortunately it had been too late to prevent the worst to happen.

“NO! KENTARO!” Kitayama’s scream reached him, but it had been too late. Kitayama had been so busy trying to calm Nikaido down to prevent him from getting too violent that he forgot that someone could walk in the room any time and he looked over to Hasshi with wide eyes, which stood in the door with a satisfied smile his finger still around the trigger.

Kentaro on the other hand couldn’t even turn to look at him as he tried to figure out what had happened, why his body felt so numb. His hands found his way to his stomach on its own, pressing the wet spot desperately, but the blood was already dropping to the ground. But he couldn’t collapse now, because he had finally seen a change in Nikaido’s eyes, even though there was no trace left of it now that Hasshi’s eyes were scanning him for any reaction which would show him that he was part of this betrayal. But as Kentaro’s legs finally gave in and he fell to his knees Nikaido didn’t even try to catch him.

“I knew that something was off with you over the last months!” Hasshi said triumphing towards Kitayama, but the latter reacted immediately and pulled out a knife throwing it at Hasshi. Luckily it hit him in the shoulder, so that he yelped and let the gun drop. He dashed forward attacking him straight on and luckily Hasshi didn’t stand a chance against Kitayama with his bare fists, so Kitayama knocked him about without a problem before he dashed over to Kentaro.

“Get up, we have to get you out of here, now! The others have definitely heard us!” Kitayama dragged him to his feet and seeing how Kentaro struggled to even keep conscious he knew that they had barely minutes to get him to a doctor.

“Let go! I won’t leave!” Kentaro whimpered as he realized that Nikaido wasn’t making any move to follow them. Again his face was a mask as he passed them walking towards the door. For a moment Kentaro thought he would block their way, but then Kitayama dragged him towards the other side of the room.

“There is a backdoor out this room. We will be able to make it out without getting seen like this!” Kitayama explained as he walked through the room. He had Kentaro’s arm over his shoulder and held him up on his belt. The blood loss made him feel dizzy and suddenly tears filled his eyes as he turned to look at Nikaido again, which was about to turn away from him. Before he could control himself he tried to reach out for him, but Kitayama wouldn’t let go of him.

“NIKAIDO! PLEASE COME WITH ME!”

“Kentaro, we have to leave,” Kitayama tried to reason with him as he desperately tried to get out of his grip.

“NO, I WON’T LEAVE HIM BEHIND AGAIN!” Kentaro kept shouting out for him, but Nikaido wasn’t showing any reaction at all as he finally turned away from them. The next moment Kitayama had to catch Kentaro as his legs had given up on him through his struggling.

“Please let go! Please, I can’t leave him behind,” Kentaro whimpered between his sobs as desperation took over him, but Kitayama just shook his head as he pulled him up again and out the door. He looked back at Nikaido once more as well, but the other one didn’t spend them any attention as he stepped out the main door.

“No one will gain anything if you die now! This fight is still not over, but we have to wait for round two!”

Kitayama had to carry him down the staircase and as they reached a backdoor leading out to the streets he let him back down again. The next moment they heard shouting from inside the building and Kitayama cursed as he realized that they would catch up with them.

“Hey, look at me!” Kitayama put Kentaro’s face in his hands so that the boy would look up at him. He looked really pale by now and pain was written all over his face.

“The others are waiting just two alleys away from here! You know the way, so go!”

“What?” Kentaro asked shocked as Kitayama made a step away from him making him struggle with his balance and the injury on his leg wasn't making it any easier. Kitayama took off the light jacket he was wearing and put it around Kentaro’s hips. The boy let out a whine as he wrapped it around his body tightly.

“Even if I carry you, they will catch up to us. But when I stop them here, they won’t be able to follow you. Go back with the others. Wait for another chance!”

“What chance?” Kentaro asked in a hurt voice as he faced the ground. “I doubt that I am the right person to reach Nikaido!”

“Hey!” Kitayama took him by the shoulders and looked behind him once, worried knowing that they could be discovered any moment. “Don’t give up that easily! You are not the type to get down just like this!”

“But I tried to reach him and he didn’t react!”

“Yes he didn’t react and that is why you are still alive!”

Kentaro was on the verge of collapsing and it was almost impossible to make sense out of Kitayama’s words, but he was right. He had seen the change in Nikaido’s eyes. A reaction he seemed to not have shown to anyone since he had gone back. Kentaro had succeeded in cracking his shell.

“He didn’t try to stop us and he told me to get you out of there! He could have kept us prisoners, let Fujigaya kill us or even kill us himself. But he let us go! He let you go! You are one step away from reaching him! You can’t die here! I won’t let you die!” Kitayama made his point clear and he pushed Kentaro carefully towards the streets stepping back inside the building. “Don’t let my efforts go to waste! Remember that I am not doing this for anyone else, but for you!”

Kitayama’s eyes showed emotions which were hard for Kentaro to describe and for a moment he wanted to stop him, to tell him to not sacrifice himself, but he decided against it finally making a step backwards and Kitayama nodded at him before he slammed the door shut and disappeared inside the building again.

Kentaro put his hand back on Kitayama’s jacket with a sharp breath. The blood was already searching its way through the fabric. He took a few deep breathes before he screamed at his body to move steady and fast towards the alley. Kitayama was right, he wasn’t the type to give up just like this and Nikaido wasn’t the type to get manipulated that easily. The fact that his real self had found a way out there before and was now still fighting to break free from the chains of his past was giving Kentaro the strength to move on. He wouldn’t let everyone’s effort go to waste, even if he had to start from zero again.


	13. Chapter 13

“Aren’t they taking too long?” Fuma asked after he had successfully stayed silent until now, but the others were also running up and down the alley, getting more and more worried.

“We should have after all made a backup plan in which we follow them inside,” Kochi let out as he stood up followed by Fuma.

“And then what? If they got captured, we wouldn’t be so much help. If that is really the case we have to meet with the Reapers and Exposers first to discuss what to do,” Ueda warned them as he realized that they would love to dash inside the Fire Foxes’ hideout right away.

Taiga was still standing at the entrance of the alley, his eyes fixed on the warehouses in front of him. He tried to ignore the others, but he couldn’t deny that he was as worried as they were.

“So how long are we waiting before we do something?” Kochi asked, but before they could decide on an answer they heard a clashing sound and all three dashed to the front of the alley stepping next to Taiga who had his eyes fixed on the small alley next to one of the warehouses from where he figured the sound came from.

“What was that?” Fuma asked as he tried to see without stepping out the alley too much, because as long as they didn’t know who it was they couldn’t risk getting discovered.

“Maybe it was just a cat searching for food in a trash can?” Kochi said as nothing else was heard for a moment and no one came into their sight.

“A cat which can toss a whole trash can to the ground?” Fuma asked with a raised eyebrow on which Kochi rolled his eyes at him.

“Then maybe a dog, happy with that theory?”

“Mh, maybe,” Fuma replied as he stepped back into the alley. Taiga was the only one who remained tense and didn’t take his eyes away from the corner while the others walked back and Fuma sat down on the ground again.

Just for a moment longer he focused if he could hear or see anything, but as he thought that it had really just been an animal or something falling over he was about to look away, he saw someone stumbling out the alley. It was already dark and hard to recognize faces, but the way he was moving showed Taiga right away that he was about to collapse.

“Taiga, all good?” Ueda asked as he realized that Taiga was still focusing on the same spot. Taiga had learnt to be careful, so even though he was almost one hundred percent sure that he knew who it was he waited until the other one made a few more steps towards them, showing that he knew the direct spot of their meeting place.

The next moment the figure in front of him stumbled and fell to the ground and he finally dared to move, dashing out the ally towards him.

“KENTARO!” Taiga shouted out for him right away, but the latter was barely aware of his surroundings and as he lifted him up from the ground his look fell directly to his wound on the stomach.

“UEDA, HE HAS BEEN SHOT!” Taiga shouted out desperately towards Ueda as he and the other two finally got what was going on and caught up to him.

“Oh shit! Hey Kentaro, can you hear me?” Fuma kneeled down next to him while Taiga held him by the shoulders.

“Nikaido- …I couldn’t-…” Kentaro’s voice was not more than a whisper. He was completely sweaty and his breathing pace way too fast and unregularly. The others exchanged a worried look, knowing that their plan hadn’t worked out, but details had to wait until later.

“What do we do?” Taiga asked Ueda who looked towards the alley Kentaro had come out from with the same question in his eyes as the others had, but no one would ask for now, because if Kitayama was with him or not wasn’t important to them at the moment. He had voluntarily helped them, but he also knew that they wouldn’t come to his rescue if something would happen.

“Fuma run to the Exposers and tell them to retreat! Kochi you do the same with the Reapers!” Ueda yelled at them as he stepped forward making Taiga back off as he lifted Kentaro up in his arms. “We’ll bring him to the Reapers’ hideout. It’s the closest from here! We can just hope that they have a doctor or I am not sure if he will make it.” Ueda looked at Kentaro with a worried glance, but the boy didn’t even open his eyes anymore. He was even too weak to complain on the pain he was in through Ueda lifting him up.

“GO!” Ueda shouted again and the next moment Fuma and Kochi disappeared between the warehouses.

“What do we do if they don’t have a doctor around? We won’t make it to any other place in time,” Taiga asked completely lost as he followed Ueda who tried to move as careful, but also as fast as possible without hurting Kentaro too much.

“Don’t think about it! We can just hope that there is one!” Ueda tried to calm him down, but it was more than visible to the boy that he feared the same as the jacket which was wrapped around the boy’s stomach was already completely drained in blood.

A few minutes later they found themselves at the Reaper’ hideout were a few of Ryosuke’s men had stayed back to take care of everything. As soon as they had seen them coming they helped them preparing bandages, but they would need to get the bullet out or he would exsaniguinate in no time which made it hard for Taiga to stay calm even though he knew that he could do nothing else than press the bandage on his wound trying to stop the bleeding as good as possible. They had put him down on a table at the second floor where they had met with Ryosuke before and Ueda was running forth and back with the other men trying to get as much medical stuff together as possible. As the men had told them right away that they had no doctor Ueda had decided to take the risk and get the bullet out himself. It didn’t matter if he would do nothing or fail trying to get it out, because either way he would die. Like this they had at least a small chance to rescue him.

“Please Kentaro, you can’t die on me, you hear me?” Taiga scolded him, but Kentaro wasn’t reacting at all. Taiga had put one hand to his neck to feel his heart rate afraid that he would die every minute now. “Ueda, please hurry!” He begged his protector and he finally ran the stairs up with the equipment he needed. It wasn’t exactly doctor equipment, but he had to take what they had. He put a bottle of alcohol next to Kentaro, a scissor, a knife and a lighter.

“Use the lighter to sterilize the knife!” Ueda ordered one of the men who did as he was told right away. “Let me see!”

Taiga stepped back and took the bandage away from Kentaro’s stomach taking a deep breath the moment the blood dropped to the table right away. Ueda used the scissor to cut the shirt open completely before he took the alcohol and poured it over Kentaro’s wound. Again there was no reaction from the boy and this time Taiga was more than happy that he was unconscious and didn’t have to go through so much pain. But his hand still remained at his neck while his eyes were fixed on Ueda who hesitated a moment as the man gave him the knife.

“Did you ever do something like this before?” Taiga asked, but regretted it right away as Ueda’s worried look gave him the answer he didn’t want to hear.

“This better works, it’s our only chance,” Ueda said as he brought the knife down to Kentaro’s skin.

“Wait!” As the door flung open Kamenashi’s shouting stopped Ueda at the last moment and Taiga turned around to see how the Exposers have arrived first and Kamenashi was already rushing over to the stairs. Juri, Kento and Fuma were right behind him and Ueda made way as Kamenashi stopped right next to them rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. The next moment one of his men stood next to him with a small black box and as he opened it a few bandages, medication and a scalpel got visible to them.

“You are a doctor?” Taiga asked, his eyes filling with hope again.

“Not officially, but I guess I am your best shot at the moment,” Kamenashi replied honestly and no one would dare to question that. “Which one of you has the quietest fingers?” Kamenashi asked and all eyes rested on Kento the next moment. “Are you focused enough to help me?”

Kento nodded nervously and moved on the other side of the table where Taiga had made place for him. Taiga was now standing next to Kentaro’s head not letting his fingers move away from his body, while everyone else stepped back giving Kamenashi and Kento some space.

“Use these to hold the cut open, but make sure to not pull too hard or it will be hard to sew the wound later,” Kamenashi handed him two small metal bars with some round plate at the end, while he himself lost no time to bring the scalpel down to open a straight cut over the gunshot wound. He guided Kento’s hands until he found a position which seemed best and told him to remain like this. The next item Kamenashi pulled out the black box was something looking like a super slim pincer, but Kamenashi let out a sigh as he tried to move it inside the cut to take the bullet out.

“I can’t see enough. Someone get a flashlight, hurry!” The next moment Ryosuke’s men were rushing to the back of the room to search for the requested item.

Taiga couldn’t take his eyes off the wound and he could see how hard it was for Kento as well to stay calm. Kento took one deep breath after the other, but Taiga had to remember that he had to concentrate as well and that was when he realized that he didn’t do so for a moment. He thought that he had taken his hand away as he didn’t feel the slight vibrating movement of the blood rushing through Kentaro’s veins, but in shock he realized that his hand was still where it belonged.

“No…Please no,” Taiga’s shaking voice made everyone look at him in sheer panic.

Ueda rushed forward right away putting his hand on the other side of Kentaro’s neck, but he turned pale the same way as Taiga just did as he felt nothing. He leant down over Kentaro’s face, but there was no breath touching his skin.

“No, no, no…” Taiga was about to lose it as he stepped back shaking his head desperately. They couldn’t lose him like this.

“KENTARO!” As Fuma finally got as well what was going on he rushed forward clapping Kentaro on the cheek, but as expected there was not a single reaction. “YOU ASSHOLE, I TOLD YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE!”

While Fuma grabbed Kentaro by the collar tears shining in his eyes, Juri had to jump forward to catch Taiga as he sank to the ground. He was still conscious, but not capable of handling the situation anymore.

Kento didn’t dare to even look at them and the only reason why he didn’t, was because Kamenashi also kept a straight face as he turned to take an injection out his box and brought it down to Kentaro’s arm so fast that no one except for Kento did even realize it.

“Everyone calm down, we still haven’t lost him,” Kamenashi suddenly announced as he finally got the flashlight he asked for. He handed it to Ueda who seemed the only one except for Kento who was still capable to think clear. “We have to get the bullet out first, then we can rescue him!”

“HE IS DEAD!” Fuma shouted at him outraged, but Juri got up to hold him back before he could interfere even more.

“SHUT UP AND LET ME SAVE HIM, WOULD YOU?” Kamenashi shouted back making the others flinch. He had never showed them such an outraged side of him, but it made clear that he wasn’t kidding. He believed that he could still save him. “I have about 3 minutes, so everyone do as I say if you want him to live!”

Fuma stepped back right away and Juri helped Taiga back on his feet as he looked at Kamenashi with a desperate look. All their hopes rested on his shoulders for now.

“Ueda, light!” Kamenashi yelled and Ueda stood next to him right away moving the flashlight until Kamenashi said where to stop. Kento concentrated on holding the cut open as wide as possible without damaging something and finally Kamenashi moved his tool inside the wound and after a few tormenting seconds that felt like several minutes he pulled out the small silver bullet throwing it on the table together with the tool. One of his men had already prepared a needle for the sewing and it felt like they didn’t even blink three times before Kamenashi was done with it.

“Here press this on the wound, but don’t use too much pressure!” Kamenashi told Kento who took the pad from him to do as he was told. “Ueda come here,” he continued and showed Ueda where to stand and where to place his hands on Kentaro’s ribs. “Push his thorax down 12 times and then stop until I tell you to continue.”

Ueda did as he was told right away knowing that he needed the right amount of pressure to make this work without breaking his ribs. After twelve times he stopped looking at Kamenashi who pushed Kentaro’s head back and moved one hand to his nose while he opened his mouth with the other one down on his chin. Two times he filled Kentaro’s lunges with air before he told Ueda to continue.

“Please, Kentaro…you can’t leave us like this…” Taiga whispered while holding on to Juri’s sleeve not sure if he would break down again if this wasn't working the way Kamenashi wanted it to.

“If you die on me I follow you to kick your ass!” Fuma hissed and Kento took his hand to calm him down, making sure that his other hand would put enough pressure on the pad. But the next moment Fuma's other hand was on his, helping him to press the pad down on the wound and even though the grip on Kento’s hand was so tight that it almost hurt Fuma’s eyes showed hope. “We won’t let you leave like this!”

Seconds turned into minutes and Kamenashi got unsettled as he tried to feel Kentaro’s heart rate each time he backed off. “Come one boy, you are stronger than this,” he whispered as Ueda continued the heart massage with gritted teeth. Once more Kamenashi reached into the box to fill the injection and shoot it into his arm before they continued their desperate fight.

“Come on, Kentaro!” Taiga whispered again as he stepped up to him taking Kentaro’s hand into his making sure that he wouldn’t be in Kamenashi’s or Ueda’s way. “We went to so much trouble! You told me the whole time to not give up! You were the one who kept up hope from the very beginning and now you have almost reached your goal, you cannot back out like this now!”

A tear slipped over his eyelid as he grabbed his hand even tighter with shaking fingers and he could hear how Juri breathed in with a shaking sound behind him as well. But the next moment he was distracted as he felt pressure against his hand and he looked at Kentaro’s hand with wide eyes.

“KAMENASHI!” He didn’t have to say more, the next moment Kamenashi brought his hand down to Kentaro’s neck and Ueda removed his hands right away and there it was, a smile on Kamenashi’s lips which made Taiga start crying like he never cried before. He held Kentaro’s hand up against his forehead whispering _thank you_ all over again.

“Idiot!” Fuma let out hitting Kentaro lightly against the leg, while Juri sat down on the ground trying to hide that he was crying as well, but no one blamed him as they were all sharing the same tears of relief.

***

 No one had slept the night after their plan had failed in the worst way possible. After the Reapers have come back to their hideout as well, the Exposers had retreated to their own hideout except for Kamenashi, who wanted to take a look at Kentaro’s condition over the next days.

Both troops had a spy out at the Fire Foxes’ territory to make sure that they wouldn’t get attacked, because no one knew what Kitayama would spill to save his own life.

“Let’s switch, you have to sleep,” Kochi said in a soft voice as he approached Taiga, who had refused to leave Kentaro’s side for just a second. First Ueda stayed with him and Tegoshi and Massu also took a look at them from time to time, but it was obvious that none of them could make him sleep.

“As soon as I know that he’ll survive I will be calm enough to sleep again,” Taiga replied in a hoarse and tired voice, his face a mask of exhaustion and agony.

“As soon as he wakes up he’ll kick everyone’s ass for not taking enough care for you. Please would you just sleep for a few hours? I don’t ask you to go somewhere else, you can just sleep right on that chair, but please do it, you look like a ghost already and I don’t want you to become one when Kentaro is on his best way to be fine again!”

Kochi’s words made him smile a little bit, but he still didn’t dare to take his eyes off his friend. Instead he leant forward grabbing Kentaro’s hand. The boy was now resting on one of the white couches and Taiga sat in one of the couch chairs next to him.

“Kamenashi said that if his condition stays stable until tomorrow evening he will be alright, but he might not wake up so soon,” Kochi explained hoping that Taiga would trust Kamenashi’s judgement enough to finally relax a little bit.

“Then let me stay awake until tomorrow evening!”

“Taiga!”

“I’m serious!”

“And so are we,” Fuma interfered and as the two boys turned towards him they found Juri next to him as well. “You should know the best that Kentaro doesn’t like it when we put any kind of burden on our shoulders and no one of us did anything wrong. Kentaro knew what could happen and he took that risk! And he would do it again for all of us, so how about you keep your faith in him as you always did and regain your own strength while he does the same?”

Taiga looked at him with a weird almost confused look and as Fuma felt the eyes of the other two on him as well, Juri trying to hide a smile and Kochi letting out a low chuckle he lifted an eyebrow at them.

“What?” He asked in a dangerous voice, but Kochi just shook his head.

“Here I am normally the one to talk everyone back to their senses and then I’ll get beaten by you! This whole situation gets weirder with every passing day!” Kochi replied chuckling on which Fuma gave him a dangerous glare, but the next moment Taiga escaped a chuckle as well and relief took over the other ones.

“I can’t believe that we dragged all of you in this and I am so extremely sorry! And grateful! And to be honest I don’t even want to know how all this would have ended without you,” Taiga explained while he stroke over Kentaro’s hair with a bitter smile. “Maybe we wouldn’t even have made it until here. Maybe I wouldn’t worry for him like this, because I might have been the one dying first.”

“No one will die!” Fuma interfered right away. “I had enough friends dying , I won’t let it happen again!” The determination in his voice left the others speechless for a moment and Taiga nodded slowly before he leant back in the couch chair putting his legs up on it.

“Then I should maybe really go to sleep or you’ll knock me out before I can faint from exhaustion,” Taiga replied teasing and Fuma cracked a smile before he sat down on a couch next to them with Juri while Kochi sat down on a chair right next to Taiga.

“We’ll look over him and we will definitely wake you up as soon as something is going on,” Juri said with a light smile and Taiga exchanged a brief look with all of them before he closed his eyes. Finally drifting off into a light sleep, which was still filled with sorrow and trouble, but also with the hope of everything turning out to be okay as soon when Kentaro would wake up again.

***

“Oh you are not with your overprotective boyfriend?” Someone said from the staircase above Kento who was sitting at the lower part of the roof to cool his head after everything that had happened. He looked up to find Ryosuke staring down at him and of course it didn’t took him long to walk down the stairs and drop next to him.

“It’s not like I can’t be on my own, you know,” Kento replied neutral without even facing him.

“Oh I know that, I bet I caused a lot of trouble to you two when I chose you as my payment,” Ryosuke replied with one of his smiles which didn’t fit the situation at all. “How are you anyways?”

It wasn’t like Kento believed that he would really care, but maybe all the ruckus made him unable to sleep as well and a little bit small talk wouldn’t hurt, as long as it stayed just at talking.

“I guess as long as Kentaro is still not okay no one can really calm down.”

“I know. Ueda, Tegoshi and Massu are patrolling around the area for hours already just coming back from time to time to ask Kamenashi about Kentaro’s condition, while your little friends won’t even leave his side. How come you are sitting here alone?”

“I did what I could to help Kamenashi save Kentaro’s life, as I did everything I could to help him find Nikaido before, but I know that I can’t help him the way Kamenashi can through his treatment or like Taiga through his friendship. Until now I could just help him-“

“-by offering yourself?” Ryosuke asked this time a little bit more serious, but a light smile was still on his lips, but there was nothing amusing about it.

“You just came up here to shove it in my face again? Or do you actually have other intentions as well?” Kento scolded him on which Ryosuke flicked his tongue at him.

“I might be rude sometimes, but I am not inhuman! I know when certain approaches would be out of turn.”

This time it was Kento who let out a chuckle before he faced Ryosuke with a piercing look. “Out of turn? So you actually think what you did was okay? That your payment was a complete normal thing to ask for? You think it didn’t hurt me? Or would hurt Fuma if he knew?”

“Want to find out? We can ask him-“

“NO!” Kento shouted as he struggled with himself if he should stand up and leave or even dare to punch Ryosuke, but he just remained next to him grabbing the fabric of his pants over his knees to stop his hands from shaking. But he was still facing Ryosuke who looked a little bit taken aback by his reaction before his expression turned into his usual mask again.

“So you want to keep lying to him? The others-“

“The others will never know either! I swear to you if you tell anyone-“

Ryosuke interrupted him with his hand in front of his face. “I told Kentaro that we just talked. I told him what you wanted me to tell him.” He leant closer looking at Kento with pure excitement in his eyes. “And you can be lucky that I find you so interesting, because I am not known to give a lot of favors to people, especially not to the ones I received as payment.”

Kento kept staring at him as he leant closer, but as Ryosuke tried to put his hand on Kento’s cheek he grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“But that payment is part of the past now and like the past it will stay behind!” Kento said in a steady voice while Ryosuke’s eyes showed a weird kind of satisfaction through Kento’s determination.

“That payment sealed the contract between us to help you and the Exposers to go against the Fire Foxes,” Ryosuke started and even though he paused for a moment Kento knew that he wanted to add something. “But what would you do if I told you that if you want us to stay in this alliance for a second try you have to give me the same payment again?”

So much to his try to convince Kento that he would know when some topics would be out of turn. Kento just kept staring at him for a moment trying to figure out if he was playing him or not, but either way his answer would be the same.

“Then I would give you that payment again, because as I told you before this is what I can do to help Kentaro and the others, so yes I would do it again. And as before it would remain our secret, because they cannot know!”

“You mean Fuma can’t know?” Ryosuke asked knowing that even if he tried to make it sound as a common rule for his payment his main focus was Fuma. “Why is that you won’t tell him?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Kento hissed at him as anger rose in him, but Ryosuke didn’t react, not even as Kento finally let go of his hand almost pushing him backwards as he lost against his body’s wish to get some distance between them.

“To be honest, no. If you didn’t want to hurt his feelings, you would have said no from the beginning. If you would be afraid that he would lose a fight against me if he finds out then you would have also not done it. So why are you keeping it secret from him? Isn’t your small fight club a place where trust his hold up high? It seems to me like no one likes it when you lie to each other.”

“I lie to him to protect him from destroying himself!” Kento shot back at him not even trying to keep his voice down. “You have no clue about what we all have gone through and even though I don’t doubt that you had a shitty life as well with what happened at your troop and Nikaido before our morals are way too apart for you to understand my reason!”

Ryosuke’s mask fell for a second when hurt was seen in his eyes. Kento wasn’t sure if he had caused that emotion or if it were the memories which haunted Ryosuke through his words, but he didn’t care. He got up and walked over to the stairs before he turned around to him again. “I am not lying to him to make myself feel better and pretend that nothing had happened. I know him the best and so I know that he wouldn’t hate me for my decision, but he would be the one feeling quilty for not stopping me and I won’t let this guilt rip him apart, that is why he can never know!”

Kento made the first steps up the stairs to the upper roof to walk back inside, but he stopped after a few steps, taking another deep breath before he searched for Ryosuke’s eyes again. He could already see in the latter’s eyes that he had understood his point more than clearly, the question was just if he cared for it.

“You know where  you can find me if you really demand payment again!”

With that he finally left him behind and he almost jumped up the last steps to the door on the roof before he slammed the door shut behind him. He let the silence around him take over for a moment before he heard his own sobs echoing from the walls of the empty hallway. He sank to the ground, burying his face on his knees to let desperation take over him. No he wasn’t fine with it, he hadn’t been fine with it the first time, but he would never let it show in front of the others, because this was his strength. He had decided to take a burden on himself which Kentaro would have had to take otherwise and while Taiga and the others had taken so many burdens on themselves already to help him he had finally gotten the chance to do so as well. And his hardest burden was to keep pretending that there was none in the first place.

***


	14. Chapter 14

He had failed! Nikaido had been right in front of him and he couldn’t reach him. He hadn’t got through the walls surrounding him and then he had to leave him behind, again! There was no way back anymore, was there? It would have the same outcome, or not?

One thought after the other hit him like a stroke of lightning as Kentaro finally regained consciousness and he woke up with the biggest headache of his life and just for a moment he wondered if it wouldn’t have been better if Hasshi would have killed him then he would have at least seen how Nikaido’s walls would have crumbled completely, maybe.

“No jumping up this time to do something stupid right away?” Someone asked next to him and Kentaro carefully turned his head, aware of the pain he would cause his body with each unnecessary move. He spotted Taiga next to him who got up from the couch chair to sit down next to Kentaro on the couch. He looked tired, but it seemed like he had slept at least a little bit and he took Kentaro’s hand in his, but Kentaro didn’t react, instead he just kept staring at him with empty eyes as reality slowly caught up to him. It felt like he would look through him and Taiga seemed to notice as he stroke a strand of hair out of Kentaro’s eyes.

“This is not the end,” he whispered and with that he had hit exactly the spot which had made Kentaro stay silent and now everything crushed down on him. He took a shuddering breath and even if he wanted to, he couldn’t hold back the tears running down his face. Finally he responded to Taiga’s grip on his hand and squeezed it, maybe a little bit too hard, but Taiga didn’t seem to mind.

“I failed- I didn’t want to believe Kitayama’s warnings-... I just couldn’t-”, his voice was shaking too much for him to bring out a clear sentence and Taiga just kept stroking over his hair until he had calmed down again.

“I don’t know what you had to face and how much of a shock it must be for you that Nikaido didn’t leave with you, but let me remind you of something.” Taiga shifted a little bit to the side and pointed towards a few couches on the other side of the room. Kentaro followed his look and he found Kento lying on his side with Fuma lying behind him, his arm wrapped around him. On the couch next to them Kochi and Juri were sleeping, both curled up in one corner of the couch. On one of the chairs Ueda sat with his head resting in his palm, also sleeping. 

“Massu and Tegoshi are out for patrolling, but they were here just a moment ago as well. For two days they all stayed awake almost nonstop to make sure that you will be fine! Kamenashi just left this morning, promising that you would be fine and that he would come back in the evening to take a look at you.”

“Kamenashi?”

“He saved you and that in a really spectacular way to be honest. Without him we would have lost you, okay we had lost you…”

“What?” Kentaro’s voice showed a hint of worry when he tried to sat up, but Taiga pushed him gently back on the couch. “Are you telling me that I...died?” Kentaro asked directly this time and Taiga nodded slowly. He didn’t want to remember, because it had been the worst feeling he could remember, but there was no need to keep it a secret from Kentaro.

“All that matters is that you are fine again, more or less,” Taiga added with a light smile on which Kentaro finally also showed a hint of relief on his face. It would take some time to finally get all parts back together and figure out how to proceed, but his head was aching too much to think about it anyways. If he would focus too much all his thoughts would return to Nikaido and just for a while longer he wanted to pretend that everything was alright.

“You also look like you didn’t get much sleep over the last days? Don’t tell me you stayed awake the whole time?”

“And here the scolding starts, of course they were right,” Taiga replied with a guilty look, but then he shook his head. “The others made sure that I would sleep from time to time, not that I could really calm down to sleep more than a few hours.”

“Perfect, then I guess you are tired enough now,” Kentaro said as he shifted a little bit to the side, but let out a gasp as he got painfully reminded of the wound on his stomach.

“Are you okay?” Taiga asked already alarmed, but Kentaro didn’t even answer to his question as he moved to the side a little bit more this time more carefully. He could also still feel the injury on his leg, but that one seemed almost fine again.

“Are you lying down voluntarily or do I have to drag you down?” Kentaro asked suddenly, making Taiga blink at him in confusion. Kentaro rolled his eyes at him before he pulled him down on the shoulder a little bit until Taiga finally understood that Kentaro had made space for him to share the couch with him.

“I can lie down somewhere else. I don’t want to hurt you!” Taiga let out worried as he tried to move away, but Kentaro shot him an angry glare on which Taiga sat down again.

“I want to sleep a little bit more as well, but if I am alone my thoughts will make me unable to do so.”

Taiga understood right away and lay down next to him facing him with a light smile. “Don’t worry, we are all here for you! Nothing is lost as long as we all keep going.”

Taiga pulled Kentaro in a light hug trying to not hurt him and Kentaro rested his head against the latter’s chest closing his eyes. “Thank you!”

He felt guilty for making them all worry for him again after everything they have done for him and Nikaido, but he would never be able to send Taiga away. Over the last months he had been the only person who made him stay strong. While Taiga said all the time that it was Kentaro who made him not lose hope it was the same for Kentaro! Without Taiga by his side he would maybe have fallen into despair before reaching this point and he wouldn’t let his or everyone else’s efforts go to waste.

***

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

The next time Kentaro woke up he found Kamenashi sitting next to him on the couch. He had woken up to the sudden touch on his stomach and Kamenashi carefully removed his hands with a light smile.

“Better, I guess. At least if you are asking for the physical pain,” Kentaro replied honest and Kamenashi’s smile fell again.

“I am so sorry that it didn’t work out as planned.”

“To be honest I was way too naïve from the start to think that it would be that easy,” Kentaro admitted.

“But as much as I can say over the short time I have known you and your friends you won’t back out just through one defeat.”

Normally Kentaro would shot him an indignant reply on this ridiculous question, but it was the first time that he felt this insecure and he looked away with a guilty look.

“Hey don’t worry! You still need some weeks for this wound to heal and Ryosuke and I have our spies around the Fire Foxes, so we will know if they suspect anything and try to attack.”

 _Weeks,_ from everything he had said this word was the heaviest for him. Could he really stay at the sideline for such a long time again? But on the other hand he didn’t even have a plan what to do from now on. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to give it a second try and this insecurity made him feel like punching himself to snap out of it, but he couldn’t help it. “Are they suspecting Nikaido?”

“Not until now. It seems like Kitayama keeps his mouth shut about everything and everyone.”

Kentaro’s stomach turned on the mention of his name. Sure he didn’t have to feel guilty for leaving him behind and somehow it wasn’t exactly guilt which made him feel that bad, but alone the fact that he was still holding up their cover even though he could easily rescue himself out of this mess with making up some lie to make them the bad guys, he wouldn’t do it. Of course he wouldn’t, because he had made his point clear about protecting Kentaro until everything was over and that would be when Nikaido was at his side again.

“Is he alright?”

Kamenashi gave him a lightly confused look and Kentaro bit his lip not wanting to ask more directly, but sure he would normally not ask more details about his condition. “Is Kitayama okay?”

“So far his life isn’t in danger, at least as long as he doesn’t spill anything. But let’s say Fujigaya freaked really badly as he came back and found out that he had betrayed him.”

Kentaro didn’t even want to know more. He could perfectly imagine what Fujigaya was capable of doing to everyone who would betray his trust. He had already done horrible things to him and Taiga and they didn’t really do anything to him in the first place.

“You want to sleep a little bit more?” Kamenashi asked, but Kentaro shook his head and tried to get up into a sitting position as he realized that none of the others were in the room. “Your friends are all around, don’t worry. A few are patrolling with a few of Ryosuke’s men and I think the younger ones are up at the roof.”

Kentaro nodded slowly and it felt good to hear that they had also calmed down a little bit again. He had caused them so many worries already, he didn’t want them to feel responsible for everything all the time while he was the one who should take all the blame for their failed plan.

“Can I stand up?” Kentaro asked as he carefully put his legs to the ground, but flinched as he stretched his upper body too much ending with the stitches causing him a slight searing pain.

“Not alone, but if you want to move around a little bit I can bring you to the roof if you want to?” Of course Kamenashi knew that he wanted to meet with his friends and that he had enough of lying on the couch after doing so for three days in a row already.

Kamenashi helped him up and Kentaro was surprised that his leg didn’t cause him pain at all anymore. Kamenashi seemed to have taken good care of this wound as well.

“How long will it take until I can walk normal again?” Kentaro asked trying to hide the deeper meaning of his question and maybe Kamenashi really didn’t notice or he just ignored the weird determination in Kentaro’s eyes.

“Walking, maybe one week. Running and other stuff three to four weeks at least. The bullet didn’t cause too much damage, it was the blood loss which you had through your difficult escape from the hideout that made us almost lose you.” He put Kentaro’s arm around his shoulder and kept walking slowly so that they boy could try out how much he could already asked of his own body and to his own surprise he could walk without too much pain and without clinging on Kamenashi too much.

“See? Have a good long rest every day for the next week and you might even be able to take on any kind of fight in no time!”

That was what Kentaro wanted to hear. If Kamenashi really meant the type of fight Kentaro was thinking about wasn’t clear, but just one more time he would try to keep his patience. If the time was right he would make the right decision, even if he was feeling more than insecure at the moment. For his friends and for Nikaido he would take on this fight again no matter what he had to sacrifice for it, as long as he was the one taking the entire burden this time and that was what he was planning!

***

“Finally!” Fuma yelled as he dropped on the bench at their meeting place.

“It wasn’t that bad at Ryosuke’s hideout!” Juri added as he dropped right next to him while Fuma rested his upper body on the table with an annoyed groan.

“Right, the couches were way more comfortable than our beds here,” Kochi added laughing, but Fuma shot him a death glare right away.

“That’s not the point! I have other reasons to not like it at his place and more good reasons to not like Ryosuke!” Fuma didn’t even have to look at Kento to make him feel guilty. The older one knew that Fuma didn’t suspect anything about his lie about the payment, but it was just natural for him to hate Ryosuke just because of his attitude.

“Anyways, now that we are back here, we will take a rest for some days and then discuss our new battle plan,” Massu added as he and Tegoshi helped Kentaro to sit down on a chair at the table.

“Can you first stop being this careful with me? I feel like a glass sculpture in a vitrine! A week has already passed and even Kamenashi said it’s okay for me to walk on my own!” Kentaro scolded the others, but it was clear that they wouldn’t leave him alone that easily.  

“Yes walking, nothing else! But as soon as we take our eyes off you that rule might get forgotten by you the next second,” Taiga said laughing as he walked in after Ueda and closed the door behind him.

With all of them back at their own hideout it felt like they had made a huge step into the wrong direction and Kentaro couldn’t but feel like he had been thrown back to the start line just before stepping over the goal mark. On the other hand it was a good chance for all of them to gather all their mental and physical strength once more. Kamenashi had promised to keep an eye on everything that was going on at the Fire Foxes and inform them as soon as it seemed like Nikaido would be in danger. But for now it seemed quiet, maybe already a little bit too quiet.

“You want us to bring you to your room?” Tegoshi asked, but Kentaro shook his head.

“To be honest I prefer sleeping own here for now. I am not in the mood to walk up and down the stairs the whole time and with the toilet and shower down here as well it might be the best to sleep here”, Kentaro explained and the next moment Massu was already up the stairs to get his mattress and Juri ran after him to help him carry it down.

“Okay so I guess for the next weeks we just have to lay low and wait,” Ueda started on which the atmosphere got even heavier than it had been over the last week. Even though they tried to make their jokes here and there to keep the mood up as best as possible, they were all restless. “I know it is hard to ask you all to stay put, but please promise me to not do something stupid!”

Everyone nodded slowly, but Ueda wanted clear answers to be one hundred percent sure that they knew how dangerous a wrong move was at the moment.

“Fuma?”

“Why is it always me you address personally?” Fuma whined, but as he met Ueda’s look he fell silent again as he realized that it wasn’t the time to take things personally. “I will stay here and wait until we can beat the crap out of those arrogant bastards,” Fuma said serious and Ueda just nodded before he turned to the others.

“Kochi, Kento?”

“I guess we are the last ones you have to worry about,” Kochi said with a smile towards Kento.

“Definitely not planning to do something stupid,” Kento assured him.

“Don’t even ask! I’ve been with you the whole way until here, as if I would do something reckless now!” Tegoshi said before Ueda could ask him.

“So won’t we!” Massu said as he came down the stairs together with Juri who nodded with a serious look. After putting the mattress to the ground they walked up to the others and now all eyes rested on Kentaro.

“You know for a second I felt offended that you would think that I would do something reckless, but when I remember what trouble I have caused all of you since I’ve entered the club I might consider your reaction as appropriate,” Kentaro admitted with a light smile which made the others chuckle.

"You are a master of disaster, you can't deny that," Fuma added with a smirk on which Kentaro shook his head.

"Right back at you."

Finally a few small laughter filled the room and the heavy atmosphere dissolved slowly.

"Then I guess we should all rest for now. And no you don't have to worry that I'll run away as soon as you are all in your rooms," Kentaro added before they could even say anything.

With that the others excused themselves to their rooms.

"Where are you going?" Ueda asked as Taiga moved to the opposite direction, but as the boy rolled his eyes at him and pointed to the bathroom door Ueda nodded before vanishing up the stairs.

"Sometimes he asks such unnecessary questions," Taiga said with a laughter and as Kentaro got up to lie down on the mattress he helped him and sat down next to him.

"Sure normally there is no reason to ask, but maybe he has one?"

Taiga needed a moment to get that this was a question, but he tried to not let anything show. "Which would be?"

"Oh come on Taiga, I didn't miss the way you were circling around each other before we went on the mission or how the tension between you cut through the air as we were at Ryosuke's hideout for the last week."

"I just try to concentrate on the important things for now, I can't get distracted."

Taiga twisted his fingers nervously, but looked up at Kentaro in confusion as the boy started laughing. "You know I really love it how important I am to you, but this time you have made a wrong calculation."

"What do you mean?"

"Ueda reacts that weird, because he is worried that your distance grows too big and that you won't find back together like this."

"That's nonsense!"

"Is it? Because you told him you would go to the toilet and all I see is your try to stay away from him."

"I told him that I want to wait until everything calmed down."

"No you don't want to," Kentaro's direct words made Taiga look at him with an angry glare for a moment, but his expression changed into a guilty one after he realized that Kentaro would see through him whatever reason he would tell him.

"This is not the time for me to think about stuff like this! It would be inappropriate."

"Why? Because I feel miserable?" Kentaro knew how Taiga felt about the whole situation and he didn't intend to hide how much emotional chaos was haunting him at the moment, but that wasn't his friend's burden to carry. "I am not sure what exactly happened between you two, but just in a few days your determination grew so big that everyone can see it!"

"That doesn't mean that I can't be patient anymore!"

"But you don't have to! If I would be in the right state for it I would lock you in a room with Ueda, because the looks he is giving you are as greedy as never before."

Taiga gave him a disbelieving look, but truth was that he had tried to not spend Ueda too much attention over the last days, resulting in missing the way he was looking at him.

"He knows how you feel! His looks are telling you that whatever happened before seems to be solved now, if you dare to finally make a move."

Taiga sighed and rested his face in his palms for a moment. "I can't believe that we have this conversation." Taiga said with an embarrassed smile which made Kentaro chuckle before he hit his friend against the shoulder.

"If you want I can ask Fuma to drag you into Ueda's room and lock you two inside if you prefer that?"

Finally Taiga let out a small laughter at that as well before he faced the older one with a smile.

"How come that I always need you to realize something that is so obvious to everyone else?"

"Because the ones involved are the most blind ones. Just remember me and Nikaido or Fuma and Kento. And because you were talking to Ueda and listened to his worries for so many years, you've maybe forgotten that sometimes actions are the better way to communicate."

Taiga nodded slowly, but as he still didn't move Kentaro pushed him almost off the mattress pointing towards the stairs.

"Go!"

"You know how weird it feels to go upstairs now when you know what I am about to do?"

"As long as you remember to lock the door there will be no problem. And the room next to yours is mine, so if you are not as loud as Fuma and Kento, this won't be a problem either," Kentaro explained with a wide and teasing smile as Taiga finally stood up. He shook his bead at his friend before he moved slowly to the stairs.

"You are such an idiot!" He said over his shoulder and Kentaro stuck his tongue out towards him. "Love you too!"

***

Ueda wasn’t that stupid, of course he knew that Taiga tried to keep his distance on purpose, but all his tries to make him realize that it would be maybe easier for both of them if he would finally dare to make the next step, failed. At first he thought Taiga would just act tough and try to hide all his worries again, so that Ueda would give in easier, but the way the boy fought against his own wish made him realize that he had indeed fought against his inner demons. He would never know how he did it, because everyone had their own way of dealing with their difficult past and memories, but now that he knew that Taiga struggled even more, because he didn’t want to make an inappropriate move at a time like this, it got even harder for Ueda to keep him on distance. Again he was the one who was losing the battle instead of the younger one.

He dropped with his back on the bed and closed his eyes for a moment. It were just a few weeks after all. He had been patient for years, okay not really patient, more like insecure, but with the same effect. And now that he saw that Taiga was more than determined to take their relationship to the next level he felt how this feeling crawled back into his mind. One wrong move from his side and everything would be over. But on the other side he had made his point more than clear, through taking exactly this wrong step before, that he wouldn’t let Taiga get closer when he was still not ready. And no he would never go that far again, he still hated himself for what he had done, but that didn’t mean that he would be able to stop his own body from getting a little bit too rushed and overexcited when the time was right.

After a few more minutes Ueda had drifted off into a light sleep not even realizing that the door had been opened and closed again. He just opened his eyes as he felt how someone sat down next to him on the bed and as he looked up he saw Taiga, but he wasn’t facing him.

“Everything alright?” Ueda asked as the boy didn’t turn around to him. It didn’t seem like he was angry, but something seemed a little bit off so Ueda sat up to be able to look at him. “Hey, what is it?” The younger one's silence started to worry him, but surprise was written all over his face when Taiga turned around to kiss him. A kiss as greedy as Ueda had never thought Taiga could get. Before he could even try to move away, the boy was sitting on his lap, holding him in place with his arms thrown around his neck. And Ueda would have been a complete idiot to resist, even though he was still a little bit confused about the sudden change in the boy’s behavior, not that he wouldn’t like it.

“Do I get an explanation for what is going on?” Ueda asked with a light smile as they finally parted to get some air again.

“No explanations this time. No discussions. Just shut up!” Taiga said in a dark voice and with the way his hair was falling in his eyes as he looked down at him made Ueda stop asking any other questions, because finally Taiga showed him that he didn’t have to talk everything out! Now he would just act and that was what Ueda had been waiting for the whole time.

The next time Taiga leant in for a kiss Ueda met him halfway and moved one hand around the boy’s neck. This time he didn’t stop the younger one as he moved his hands under his shirt. As Ueda moved one arm around Taiga’s hips to keep him as close as possible the boy let out a low moan against his lips. And as it was Taiga who licked over the older one’s lips first, more demanding than asking for access Ueda had to try hard not to lose to his body’s lustful wish to turn the situation around. He enjoyed Taiga’s attitude more than he ever thought he would and it also made him relax and forget about his worries, because after all Taiga showed him that he had everything under control and that was what he needed to know.

Taiga tugged impatient on Ueda’s shirt as he tried to back off to get rid of both their shirts, but just for a moment longer Ueda didn’t want him to move away.

“Would you mind giving me just a little bit space to breathe?” Taiga asked as Ueda finally lost the contact to his lips, but kept him so close that it was obviously difficult for the younger one to even concentrate on breathing in the first place.

“You were the one throwing himself at me, so now you can’t complain,” Ueda teased him, but then he finally backed off a little bit so that Taiga could finally slide down from his lap. But he wouldn’t take his eyes off him and Taiga followed his movements as if he would fear that he could back out any moment if the space between them would get too big.

They were both sitting on the bed facing each other as Ueda moved his hands to Taiga’s shirt to help him out of it before he got rid of his own. Just for a split second he wondered if he should ask again if he was really ready for this, but before he could even do so Taiga had crossed the distance between them again, taking full control again as he pushed Ueda down on the mattress.

The next kisses they shared got messier with each time they parted and their hands were found everywhere over the other one’s body. So of course it didn’t take long for Taiga’s hands to reach out for Ueda’s pants. As Taiga moved down to sit on his legs to be able to open his pants he looked up at Ueda with those eager eyes again which made it almost impossible for Ueda to not lose it, but something told him that Taiga wouldn’t mind at all if he did. And as Ueda was sure that there was not a single doubt left on Taiga’s face as he opened the older one’s pants he finally dared to turn around the game as he sat up and pulled Taiga into another kiss.

The next moment he used the distraction of the boy which he caused him with his hands moving down to his butt, to turn them around so that Taiga would lie under him. Once more he backed off just to have a proper look at him again. No there was definitely no way that Ueda would ask anything, because after all, the boy had told him to shut up, so he would.

The next time he leant down he just brushed over Taiga’s lips before his lips found their way to the boy’s neck and as he bit him maybe a little bit too rough Taiga buried his fingernails in his back, but the moan he let out at the same time showed that there was still nothing which would bring him to his limits.

“Ueda, please..,” Taiga whispered next to his ear as he rolled his hips up and Ueda didn’t even hesitate as he moved one hand down to open Taiga’s pants without losing the contact to his skin with his lips. He kissed and licked his way down to his collarbone and Taiga moved his hands to the older one’s hair as he lifted his hips so that Ueda could finally get rid of all unnecessary fabric between them.

When he moved his lips up to Taiga’s again he could feel something he considered as tension on the way the boy moved, but it wasn’t the bad type of tension. It was the same for Ueda, because it was the first time for them to feel each other in this way and a shiver ran through him as their erections brushed over each other for the first time. Taiga moaned into their next kiss and as Ueda looked at him he could see some weird hesitation mixed with embarrassment as the boy’s cheeks turned slightly red.

The next moment Taiga’s hands found their way down over Ueda’s stomach and the older one could feel how they were slightly shaking.

“No reason to feel ashamed,” he whispered against the younger one’s lips before he gave him a mind-blowing deep kiss on which the younger one threw all his worries over board and he moved his hands down to Ueda’s cock, stroking over him on which Ueda moaned in a deep voice as he broke the kiss just for a short moment before his lips found their way towards his neck again and then up to his earlobe. “You are allowed to touch as much as you want,” he whispered and Taiga shivered as he bit in his earlobe.

“Please, can you-“ He didn’t even have to say more and the next moment Taiga’s words were replaced by a moan as Ueda reached out for him to stroke over his full length with a firm grip on which Taiga grabbed the sheets for a moment so he wouldn’t dig his fingernails into Ueda’s skin.

After the first wave of pleasure Taiga rocked his hips upwards again and grabbed a fistful of Ueda’s hair to pull him down again. It was obvious that kissing and touching wouldn’t satisfy the boy for much longer and Ueda kept kissing him to distract him as he moved his hand down to insert one finger carefully. He felt how Taiga tensed, but again it wasn’t because of fear and after a moment he relaxed again. He relaxed even faster after he inserted a second finger and rolled his hips against his finger impatiently.

Ueda gave him some space to breathe and relax while he dropped kisses all over his skin to distract him and as he was sure that the boy was ready he removed his fingers and lifted up his hips to find a good position.

The only emotions left on Taiga’s face as he slowly entered him was pleasure and lust which calmed Ueda down, but turned him on at the same time. He had to try hard to not move too fast, but truth was that the way Taiga lay under him with flushed cheeks, his hair a sweaty mess and his lightly swollen lips apart so that he could slow down his breathing pace didn’t made it easier to keep it slow.

As Taiga lured him into the next kiss, Ueda finally dared to move faster and Taiga tried desperately to not moan into the kiss, wanting to keep as much body contact as possible. But the moment Ueda took him in his hand again and stroke over his tip with his thumb the boy threw his head back. His moans which mixed with small whines made Ueda thrust in deeper now and as much as Taiga tried to put his lips back on his he couldn’t. For a moment their lips touched, then another moan escaped him.

“Please…Tatsuya, please...” The need in the boy’s voice made Ueda move even faster and his grip around the boy’s erection got firmer. Taiga tried to muffle his own moan with his hand as he finally reached his climax, but the pleasure which showed on his face made Ueda follow him over the edge after just a few more thrusts and he moved his head next to Taiga’s, his last moan escaping into the pillow. For a moment he rested his forehead against the boy’s shoulder before he felt how arms wrapped around him.

“Thank you.”

This time Ueda wouldn’t question if his action should be taken as something to be thankful for, because this time he wanted to thank Taiga as well, for fighting his way through the surface of this pitch-black sea, called his past, so that they could finally be together.


	15. Chapter 15

 

One more week had passed and Kentaro couldn’t deny that he got impatient. He had done as Kamenashi had told him and moved around from time to time without overdoing it and while he could finally do a lot of things without the wound hurting him too much he knew that he still had to wait a while to be fully recovered and this while felt like an eternity.

It wasn’t just him who felt this way, but the others tried their best to not show their restlessness when they were around Kentaro. A few days ago he had lost his patience yelling at Ueda to get in there himself and drag Nikaido out, because after all they had two troops of the Triangle on their side and they could definitely overrun the whole Fire Foxes hideout with them. But Ueda had had a more than good point to not do so, because after all destroying the hideout and overpowering them wasn’t the problem, but keeping Nikaido safe while doing so wasn’t that easy. If he would attack them there was a chance of him being the one getting killed in the progress and as Kentaro had realized that even though he wanted Nikaido out there as soon as possible he was the only one who could make him follow out there without a fight.

Kentaro was lost in his thoughts as the main door slammed open so that he flinched out of surprise. The next moment Taiga ran inside hitting with his hand on the table with a bright smile.

“I won!” He let out laughing the moment Fuma, Kochi and Juri appeared one after the other in the doorframe.

“First, you cheated, because you didn’t wait for the start signal. Second, your bag is the lightest one. And third your legs are the longest, so you should have given us an advantage,” Kochi complained while Fuma and Juri dropped to the bench breathing heavily.

“What the hell did you do?” Kentaro asked with a chuckle as Kochi dropped next to him on the mattress while Taiga took all the bags from the other boys which were filled with food. “We just made a small bet on the way back.” Taiga explained completely innocent.

“You were just afraid to lose that is why you cheated!” Fuma scolded him, but Taiga just laughed as he stored all the bags in a shelf next to the door.

“What did you bet about?” Kentaro asked curious.

“Juri and Fuma wanted to know how things are going between Ueda and Taiga, because since a week ago they finally seem calm around each other again,” Kochi explained.

“At least until the evening comes, because it seems like they can’t wait to “go to bed””, Juri let out laughing, but Taiga just rolled his eyes at them as he already walked over to the stairs.

“And he started calling Ueda by his first name, that is more than fishy. And because Taiga doesn’t spill anything I made him bet, so that if we had won he would have to tell us everything that happened between him and Ueda over the last week and I mean everything!”

“Fuma, you were the one complaining that you don’t want too many information about our private matters and now you can’t get enough?” Kentaro asked, but Fuma just shrugged his shoulders.

“Maybe it is because normally everyone shoves their feelings in our faces that it feels weird when Taiga tries to keep it private.”

“Right private, not hidden! So don’t complain, I won’t have sex with an open door just to satisfy your weird need for information,” Taiga said, but the next moment there was a knowing lopsided smile on Kochi’s face and Juri jumped up pointing at him.

“HA, I KNEW IT! So you did have sex!”

The next moment Fuma hit on the table with his palm with a winning laughter while Taiga turned slowly red before he hawked trying to act normal. “That doesn’t change the fact that you have lost the bet and I can choose someone of you to be my slave for one day!”

“What? That was what you put against it in the bet? You really wanted to know, didn’t you?” Kentaro asked teasing.

“We needed to find some motivation for him to enter this bet,” Kochi explained before all eyes rested on Taiga who let his eyes wander form one to the other before he stretched his arm out.

“You!”

“What, why?” Juri whined as Taiga chose him. “I was so sure that you would take Fuma!”

“That would have been too easy, Fuma would have been prepared for it, but like this it is more fun!”

Juri growled, but moved over to him nevertheless. “Then what do you want me to do?”

“How about you help Fuma to carry Kentaro’s mattress to his room for now?”

“Okay that is still reasonable,” Juri let out relieved before Kochi helped Kentaro up, who had decided in the morning that he wanted to return to his room. Of course after having a talk with Taiga if it was okay, because after all their room was next to his. He didn’t know if they would just refrain from certain activities for now or if they would try to keep it quiet, but either way Kentaro had enough of sleeping at the meeting space with Tegoshi and Massu waking him up every morning, because they were awake way too early each day.

“Don’t relax just now, I have a lot more planned for you,” Taiga said with an evil smirk before he helped Juri and Fuma with the mattress.

“As long as you don’t want me to stay in your room at night, everything is fine,” Juri countered on which he got a punch on the shoulder from Taiga before they vanished upstairs.

Kentaro looked after them with a light smile for a moment, but as he still didn’t sit down at the table Kochi gave him a knowing look.

“What?” Kentaro asked confused.

“Want to take a walk?”

“I know you are good at analyzing, but now you are a mind reader as well?” Kentaro asked laughing, because truth was that he was dying for an opportunity to finally walk around outside again. He took a small walk with Tegoshi and Massu a few days before, but they were way too worried for his injury, so it was way too short and Kentaro’s energy was about to rip him apart from the inside. “Then let’s go for a walk before the others come back, because with them you will end up hurt again, because Fuma would try to piggyback you or Taiga driving us insane asking if you feel alright every two minutes!”

“No thanks, I had enough over-caring people around me over the last weeks,” Kentaro replied as they walked towards the door and left before anyone would notice and scold him again.

“Does it still hurt?” Kochi asked after they had walked towards the main street where the first bars opened now that it got dark outside. Their hideout was located in a more or less calm area so that they wouldn’t face the trouble of running into too may knowing faces after they had caused uproar in so many underground clubs over the last months.

“Not as long as I don’t overdo it, but with everyone running around me like I would be out of glass there is no way I would actually even get close to do anything at all. It is a miracle that I am allowed to go to the toilet by myself,” Kentaro started laughing at his own words and Kochi just shook his head.

“Alone the fact that you can laugh like this without it hurting is a really good sign,” Kochi explained and Kentaro nodded as he tapped on his wound carefully.

“Kamenashi’s skills are really great, without him I would be dead. Okay I was dead, but even that was no problem for him as it seems.”

“We can call ourselves really lucky that he was there in time! Just imagine if Ryosuke’s group would have switched places with them? We arrived as everything was already over. It would have been way too late and I am not sure if Ueda would have really succeeded in rescuing you.”

“Good that we don’t have to find out.”

Kochi nodded approving before they stopped at a small bridge with a calm river flowing underneath. Kentaro sat down on the railing while Kochi leant against it with his back, looking up into the sky where the stars were shining bright now that the last daylight had vanished.

“Thank you,” Kentaro said after a while and Kochi tried to look confused, but of course he knew that Kentaro had seen through his intentions. “You all have your own worries at the moment and still you try to distract me from mine. I know that Taiga and the others try their best to stay calm around me as well, but to be honest they fail miserably at the moment.”

Kochi escaped a chuckle on that and Kentaro had to smile on the thought how ridiculous everyone behaved around him, pretending that everything would be alright.

“If you want we can stay here as long as you want, it’s not as if Juri wouldn’t have already guessed that I would drag you away from everyone sooner or later.”

“Thank you, really. But I guess we should head back, it’s getting cold and if I catch a cold, hell will break lose in the hideout.” Kentaro jumped down from the railing and Kochi followed him right away as he started walking back towards the hideout.

“I doubt that their care for you can still be topped!”

“Don’t underestimate them!” Kentaro said laughing, but with a hint of worry as he really feared that they could tie him to the bed if something else would happen. He put his hands into his pockets as they walked away from the main street towards the back alleys to their hideout.

The next moment Kochi stumbled next to him and he turned around as he heard him curse.

“It’s rare to hear bad words out of your mouth!” Kentaro let out trying to hide his laughter as he saw that Kochi had stumbled over some ripped plastic back on the ground which they couldn’t see in the dark backstreet.

“Be happy that it was me and not Fuma, he would have started a fight with this stupid bag already.” Kochi teased him as he crouched down to rip the plastic bag open in which his shoe had gotten trapped.

“That reminds me how Nikaido once got angry at the waves at the beach when they disturbed us at a very bad moment.” Kentaro had to smile as he remembered their calm day back at the beach, but his look darkened again as he remember how angry he had been at Nikaido for hiding his past and how stupid he had been for trusting Kitayama this easily.

Kochi had also let out a chuckle as he remembered their chaotic times at the club. “Yes that really sounds like-“ He looked up at Kentaro and the latter saw how his eyes grew wide, but his warning reached him too late. “BEHIND YOU!”

Before Kochi was even back in a standing position Kentaro was dragged away from him with one arm stopping him from slashing around and another one pressing some fabric against his mouth and nose. And even though he knew he had to do something about his own situation he tried to scream out for Kochi as another person appeared next to them so fast that Kochi couldn’t even fight back before the other one knocked him out with a hit on the head with a metal bar. Kochi had dropped to the ground right away and Kentaro’s try to scream out for him through his fear that his friend wasn’t just unconscious, made the effect of the ammonia, which the fabric over his mouth contained, take over his body even faster and dizziness took over him. He felt how someone caught him before he could completely sink to the ground and the last thing he saw was that they left Kochi behind in the alley as they dragged him away.

***

“Fuma, stop grinning!” Juri scolded him, but the latter’s smile grew even wider on his sulky expression. “Don’t you have anything else to do, go and search for Kento!”

“Kento would just scold me if I run after him again. And I have to memorize this picture as good as possible, because I doubt I will ever get the chance to see something hilarious like this ever again!”

“I warn you!” This time Juri wielded the wooden cooking spoon he held in his hand towards him like a mother scolding her child on which not just Fuma, but also Taiga burst out laughing.

Taiga had made Juri wear a pink apron he had found in one of the old cupboards at the kitchen corner and he was sure that after this day none of the boys would ever take on a bet against him again.

“Please tell me that I can take this off before the others are back?” Juri asked almost begging, but Taiga’s lopsided smile made him growl right away and turn back to the cooking pot. “At least I can make you pay by ruining the food. I will put so much salt inside that you will never even think about asking me to cook again.”

“So I can ask you again to wear a pink apron?”

“NO!” His indignant tone made them laugh again, but Taiga could see how Fuma looked over to the door from time to time.

“Don’t worry, Ueda, Tegoshi and Massu are with him, nothing will happen!” Taiga tried to calm him down, after the others had left to meet with Ryosuke to discuss some possible strategies for the time when they would make their next move. But of course Fuma was against Kento joining this meeting. It wasn’t like the others had forced him to come with them, he had insisted on it, knowing that it was easier to talk to Ryosuke when he was around as well.

“I don’t like it when we are all separated like this,” Fuma let out as he leant back on the bench to lie down.

“Kochi and Kentaro are also gone for a long time,” Juri added, but Taiga shook his head with a light smile.

“I bet Kochi is analyzing the shit out of Kentaro at the moment. I wouldn’t be surprised when Kentaro comes back alone after leaving Kochi behind somewhere, because he got a headache from his tries to make him feel better.”

“Or he actually stays silent for once in a while. This is also one of his strong points, knowing when to shut up and listen!” Juri explained with a kind of proud smile before he turned towards Fuma as the boy let out a weird noise on which Taiga stood up to lean over the table.

“He didn’t really fall asleep, did he?” Taiga asked giggling.

“It’s Fuma, he can sleep everywhere!” Juri started as his look suddenly got excited as he turned towards Taiga with a teasing smile. “Can I put the apron on him?”

“He will kill you afterwards, you know that, right?”

“I’ll take the risk!”

Juri moved over to the bench and took the apron off, ready to throw it over Fuma like a blanket, but a loud knock on the door foiled his plans and the next moment Fuma glanced up at him with a threatening glare as he realized what he wanted to do.

“You are so going to pay for this!” Fuma growled as he got up and Juri squealed as he jumped back trying to get away from him. But then there was a knock again, even louder than before.

“Is anyone of you there?” They heard a familiar voice calling out for them and what made Taiga run towards the door wasn’t the fact about the person calling out, but the worry he could hear in his voice.

He rushed to the door and looked at a really worried looking Kamenashi in front of him. “What’s going on? Why are you- KOCHI!” One of Kamenashi’s men was carrying Kochi on his back while the other one pressed something against a wound on Kochi’s forehead. Now that he took a closer look at Kamenashi, he saw that he had ripped off a sleeve of his shirt to be able to stop the bleeding of the boy’s wound.

“Can you let us in first? Explanations later!” Kamenashi rushed past them with his two men, which put Kochi carefully on the table. Juri and Fuma were right next to him shouting out for him, but there was no reaction.

“Can you bring me a clean towel and some water? And please tell me that you have bandages!?” Kamenashi asked slightly stressed as he didn’t carry his medical supplies with him, because he hadn’t even thought of the possibility to find one of them injured in the streets. Taiga nodded and ran to the kitchen corner to prepare everything, while Juri dashed towards a shelf to get some bandages they had stored to treat Kentaro’s wounds.

“Wait, was he alone? Where is Kentaro?” Fuma asked as his brain finally caught up to what was happening.

“Fuma, explanations later!” Taiga couldn’t even believe that he had just said those words, but he tried to ignore his friend’s piercing look on him as he placed a bowl with water next to Kochi on the table.

Fuma was about to ignore him though, ready to leave all caution behind and dash out the door, but Taiga blocked his way. “If we ran out there now without knowing what happened we might lose someone else. Please, I can’t lose anyone of you again!”

Taiga didn’t have to say more. Fuma has gotten his point completely and even though worry was still written all over his face he concentrated on helping Kamenashi to treat their friend for now.

Kamenashi cleaned the wound carefully and bandaged the wound. Juri escaped a relieved sight as his friend let out a low groan on Kamenashi’s touch on his forehead, because after all that meant he was alive.

“It seems like he didn’t lose too much blood. He might have a mild concussion, but he will be fine!” Kamenashi explained after he backed off again letting the younger ones move closer to his friend.

“Hey Kochi, can you hear me? Kochi!” Juri shook him carefully on the shoulders and again his friend let out a pained noise before he slowly opened his eyes.

“Thanks god…” Fuma said relieved as he squeezed Kochi’s shoulder while Juri took his hand in his. It felt way too cold and he could feel how he was slightly shaking, but all that mattered was that he would be fine again.

“What is going on?” Kochi asked perplex as he looked in the faces of his friends before he saw Kamenashi with his men standing behind them.

“You tell us? We found you unconscious on the ground in one of the alleys on our way here. We just wanted to come by to take a look. You can be happy that we-“

“Where’s Kentaro?” Kochi interrupted him panicked as he tried to sit up, but failed as everything started spinning around him, so that Juri pushed him down on the table again.

“We found just you!” Kamenashi explained and the way Kochi’s face turned even paler than before signaled them that they had to face the next big problem right away.

“Damnit!” Kochi hit with the side of his fist on the table and Taiga felt nauseous before he even explained what had happened. “We didn’t see them coming. We were already on our way back as they attacked us. Everything happened so fast. If I would have noticed them sooner-“ Kochi took a shuddering breath and Juri squeezed his hand as his eyes filled with tears.

“Kochi I am sorry to ask you to hurry, but you have to tell us what happened. Did you see their faces?” Kamenashi asked as he shifted impatiently knowing that they shouldn’t waste time.

“No it was too dark and it happened too fast.”

“Did they hurt Kentaro?”

“They- I’m not sure, but if I remember correctly they tried to knock him out with narcotics, but I don’t know if they succeeded. I wasn’t conscious long enough to see what they did to him.”

“Let’s search for him!” Fuma suggested and Kochi tried to get up right away, but this time it was Taiga which stopped them as he stepped in front of Fuma.

“We can’t just run around the streets and search for him, it is too dangerous.”

“I am not intending to run clueless around the streets, there is just one place I want to go and just one person’s ass I want to kick!” Sure Fuma wasn’t the fastest, but everyone knew who was behind this attack, but that didn’t make it any less dangerous.

“Okay boys, calm down!” Kamenashi interfered before any of them could do something stupid and ran off like this. “Where are the others?”

“At Ryosuke’s place,” Taiga explained as calm as possible even though the worry about what could have happened to Kentaro until now was almost ripping him apart. He would love to let Fuma walk straight into the Fire Foxes’ hideout to get their friend out there, but he wouldn’t risk their lives that easy!

“That makes things easier. Okay listen up, I get my men ready and you inform Ryosuke and the others about what happened. I will be on my way with my men as soon as I can!” Kamenashi was already on his way to the door, the other two men already dashing out to the streets on his command. “And you stay here! You are in no condition to fight!” He warned Kochi as he somehow managed to get into a sitting position.

And of course there was no objection from the boy, because after all it was Kochi and he knew very well what he was capable of and what not.

“And you hurry! I’ll meet you as soon as possible at the Reapers’ hideout!” With those words Kamenashi vanished into the streets as well and Taiga and Fuma were also ready to leave as they turned towards Juri with a questioning look as he didn’t follow them.

“I stay here!” Juri said determined still not letting go of Kochi’s hand and Fuma nodded at him with a serious look. “Kick some ass for me as well!”

“Without you it’s just half of the fun, but I’ll give my best!” Fuma replied with a lopsided smile and Taiga gave his friends an apologizing look before he dashed out with Fuma to inform the others.

“You don’t have to stay. They will need you more than I do!” Kochi said as Juri helped him sitting up on the table.

“Oh sure and how the hell were you planning on letting them know? You wanted to crawl over to them?”

“Who are you talking about?” Kochi asked trying to play perplex, but Juri hit him lightly against the shoulder before he helped him off the table.

“After all those years you still think I can’t read your intentions by now?”

Kochi had to smile on the way Juri could see through his intentions to easily, after all Kamenashi had told him that he couldn’t fight, but that didn’t mean he couldn't get someone else to do the fighting for him.

“Then let’s go! We will need all the help we can get!”


	16. Chapter 16

 

Kentaro opened his eyes staring at the black backrest of the couch he was lying on. He needed a moment to be able to think clear and to remember what had happened, but as soon as the picture of Kochi lying on the ground showed up in his mind he sat up. The next moment everything started spinning in front of his eyes and he closed them for a moment again, but it seemed like the narcotics were different from the ones Shige had used on him as he could feel that even though he still felt dizzy he could definitely get up. If he could fight was another problem and he carefully put one hand down to his wound and as he looked at the bandage under his shirt he was more than relieved to see that the wound hadn’t ripped open through his struggling as they kidnapped him. On that thought he finally took a look around, not surprised at all to find himself sitting on the couch where he had met Nikaido before. Slowly he got up and as he turned towards the door he needed a moment to realize that someone was lying on the ground in front of the small podium he was on. The only light in the room came from high and slim windows on the wall and even though they had a full moon it was still hard to see. Carefully he took a few steps towards the person lying on his back. For a moment fear stopped Kentaro from getting closer, as he wasn’t sure if the person was still alive or not, but as he had reached the end of the podium without even realizing that he had made a few more steps forward, he could finally see that the person was still breathing and at the same time he realized who it was. Without even knowing why he felt so worried all of a sudden he jumped down the stage and dashed towards him.

“Kitayama! Hey, can you hear me?” Kentaro shouted out for him worried and as he dropped down next to him he held his breath as he realized how badly hurt he was. “What did they do…” He had several wounds which were not just caused through normal beating. They had definitely used metal bars and other things to beat him up and dry blood covered not just his face, but also his clothes. Cuts on the clothes revealed still bleeding wounds from knives as well.

“You idiot! Why did you go through all this just to cover us? You are a fucking egoistic asshole which shows no mercy, so behave like it!” Kentaro scolded him as he grabbed the fabric of his shirt to shake him again. He could feel how anger rose inside of him, overshadowing his worries. How could they all talk about the Underground being their family, if they do something like this to their own people? Kentaro flinched when Kitayama suddenly moved next to him while he was lost in his thoughts.

“Are you alright?” Kentaro asked worried as the latter finally opened his eyes. But Kitayama needed a moment to even get that it was Kentaro who was sitting in front of him and no one who would try to hurt him again.

“What…? How?” Kitayama asked confused, almost panicked. But as he tried to get up, Kentaro made sure to hold him down as it was obvious that he would just hurt himself even more if he moved this abruptly.

“They ambushed me, but to be honest I’m not really sure what is going on,” Kentaro replied honest and he waited patiently for Kitayama to catch up with the situation.

“Wait this doesn’t make sense…What-“ The next moment Kitayama seemed to finally get what was going on, but Kentaro could still not make sense out of it. “You have to get out of here, now!” Kitayama tried to push him away, but the latter’s reaction made Kentaro even angrier.

“As if I would leave like this again,” Kentaro yelled at him. Sure he hasn’t come on his free will, but now that he was here he would not run away again and this time Kitayama couldn’t force him.

“You don’t understand, Kentaro get out, NOW!” Kitayama sat up with a painful groan, but whatever it was that made him panic like this was enough to make him forget the pain as he tried to push Kentaro to his feet to make him leave.

“Kitayama, what the hell? I am not leaving you and Nikaido behind again!” He was surprised of his own choice of words as he had just intended to say Nikaido, but it came naturally that he somehow refused to leave Kitayama behind.

“Kentaro, there is no time for you to think about others now! Go or you will never leave this place again!” Kitayama’s shaking voice made fear rose inside Kentaro, especially because he had never seen him this panicked before. “I SAID GO, BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!”

Kentaro flinched on his strict tone and he finally rose to his feet taking a few steps backwards, but a mischievous laughter made him freeze on the spot.

“It is already too late, but your emotional reunion was too much fun to interrupt!”

Kentaro refused to turn around, but looking at Kitayama wasn’t helping either, because the older one had gone completely pale as he realized that they had played in his hands without even realizing it. Their conversation had given the proof of Kitayama’s betrayal and after all he had gone through to keep their cover, Kentaro had ruined his effort in mere minutes.

Kitayama gritted his teeth as Kentaro heard footsteps behind him and of course he had recognized his voice. Kitayama looked at him with a hateful glare, but he didn’t try to get to his feet as he couldn’t fight in his condition anyways.

“Boy, you are as rude as I remember you! How about you greet me properly at least? Or are you always this cold towards your friend’s family members?”

The ironic chuckle which followed made something snap inside of Kentaro and he turned around with a murderous glare. All the painful memories he had stored inside of him, every bad happening that had occurred and each tear he had shed over the last months were because of this one man and rage was filling his whole body as he faced Fujigaya.     

Kentaro made a threatening step towards him, but the next moment Fujigaya lifted a gun and even though Kentaro stopped right away he wasn’t afraid, to his own surprise. While Kitayama was afraid that everything would be over like this, Kentaro had found something really interesting about what was going on, something that made the small glim of hope he had treasured brighten up again. His chances of getting Nikaido out of this place had just gotten better with the way Fujigaya had appeared in front of him.

“Why are you grinning? You want to face death with a smile?” Fujigaya asked as he tilted his head, looking at Kentaro who smiled back with a victorious smile, even though he knew that it wouldn’t be easy at all to make his plan work, but he had to try.

“I just realized what a miserable coward you are!”

“Excuse me?” Fujigaya raised an eyebrow and his finger went closer to the trigger right away. He could lose it every moment that was for sure, but instead of playing for time he would try to break him. His short temper was just a facade for the fear he was carrying around after all.

“Oh, so you actually thought I would be afraid of you when you show up in front of me all by yourself? The high and mighty Fire Foxes’ leader faces his enemy on his own, this is how you wanted it to look like, right?”

“Idiot, what are you doing?” Kitayama scolded him as he saw how Fujigaya narrowed his eyes dangerously. But Kentaro wouldn’t stop here, he had found Fujigaya’s biggest weakness and it was his best chance to get out.

“You are playing with the fire boy! And that after all the trouble you caused us already!”

“Oh now I feel so sorry!”

“Kentaro!” Kitayama tried to get up and pull him away, but Fujigaya was faster and kicked him to the ground. He could have blocked the kick, but he didn’t want to risk Fujigaya losing it completely. He had to find the golden middle to make him freak the way he wanted him to.

“You stay there or you’ll be the first dead one today”, Fujigaya hissed at Kitayama before he turned to Kentaro again who still had a kind of teasing expression on his face and it made Fujigaya kick him again. This time Kentaro escaped a gasp as he hit almost on his wound and the last thing he needed was it to open again.

“Oh did I hurt you?” Fujigaya asked with the same mocking tone Kentaro had used before. “For someone who is about to get killed you act really carefree, you know that? You want to die with pride, is it that? No begging? Facing death with a smile?”

“You’re not going to shoot me like this!”

“Want to bet?”

“If winning this bet is more important to you than watching me losing all my hope to get Nikaido back, than no I won’t take that bet! But I doubt that you will be satisfied with that!”

Kitayama looked from him to Fujigaya and back with a completely confused look. But Fujigaya had his eyes fixed on Kentaro and there was it, the small change in his expression which he had waited for. His oh so arrogant and perfect mask cracked through fear.

“You are just a little worm which I don’t want to step on, but want to rip into little pieces! And you know why? Because I like to see people suffer!” Fujigaya’s look had turned even crazier after Kentaro had scratched his façade and he crouched down next to the boy and put the gun directly to his head. “And when I am done with you, I’ll search for your little friend. Because after all he was a present and I want him back!”

Just for a second Kentaro got provoked enough to think about punching him, but he held back at the last moment. “Then how about you call Nikaido and let him finish me off?”

Normally Fujigaya would show a mocking smile now, because of course it would be to his greatest satisfaction to see how his right hand would turn against Kentaro and kill him…if he had turned to be Fujigaya’s right hand again, that was. But now his look had turned to stone.

“Oh wait, he isn’t around, right? I wonder why? I heard that he was always by your side before and didn’t you just say you like to torture people? Then come on let me look him in the eyes when he kills me!”

“As if I would give you the favor to meet him again, you messed with his head enough!”

“I messed with him?” Kentaro let out an ironic laughter on which Fujigaya pulled away the gun just to lunge out with its back and hit Kentaro with it on the head. The boy gasped and held his hands over his head as he rolled to the side. He took a sharp breath as he pressed one hand to the wound while blood ran from his temple down to his chin. Fujigaya got up with a weird smile on his lips, but his mask had fallen completely now and it was just a matter of time to make him freak.

“You arrogant little bastard, let me do you the favor and end this quick!”

“As quick as you lost Wataru?”

Kitayama shouted at Fujigaya to stop, but he wasn’t able to get up in time to be of any help as Fujigaya’s finger was already pulling the trigger.

***

“Taiga, wait! I know you are worried, but we are no suicide commando!” Ueda warned the younger one as he was about to just dash inside the Fire Foxes' hideout without spending the dozen of people patrolling outside any attention.

They had met Ueda and the others on the way to Ryosuke’s hideout. They had been already on their way back and after a short explanation of what had happened Tegoshi and Massu volunteered to rush back to Ryosuke to let him know. Ueda had not even a chance to discuss anything before Taiga dashed through the streets towards the Fire Foxes’ hideout. Fuma and Kento followed them right away, but now that they were so close they needed a plan.

“I am not going to wait for the others to arrive, if that is what you want,” Taiga said impatiently, but Ueda shook his head.

“I’m not asking you to. But Fujigaya is definitely expecting us to attack, because otherwise he wouldn’t have gathered all his man like this.”

“Then we need a distraction!” Taiga said as he looked around trying to find a way to somehow draw the guards' attention so they could sneak inside through the back door.

“And here my entrance follows!” Fuma said with a lopsided smile as he took Kento’s hand to drag him away from the others.

“What are you doing?” Ueda asked worried, but Fuma just chuckled giving him a confident smile. “Creating chaos is my specialty, remember?”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Taiga asked worried, but even Kento gave him a nod. They had come so far and they would stop at nothing to finally get all of their friends back together.

“Leave it to us, I know that he might have a stupid plan, but I bet it will be an awesome distraction!”

Ueda and Taiga gave each other a worried look, but in the end they nodded and watched how Fuma and Kento disappearing behind the next building.

The next minutes passed in silence and Taiga bit his lip, trying to make up a plan in his head how they should intrude the building and search for Kentaro, but he had never been inside the hideout, so he wasn’t sure where to search and who was he kidding it was a huge hospital, there were way too many corridors and 5 floors where he could be.

“Don’t lose your calm. You’ll need it as soon as we are inside! I know it’s hard, but please try to stay focused,” Ueda warned him and Taiga nodded.

The next moment he flinched when a metal bin landed right between two of the guards in front of the door, they jumped away as surprised as he was about the sudden attack from above and looked up shouting at someone Ueda and Taiga couldn’t see. But they didn’t have to, because they knew of course who was standing on the roof top a few buildings away from them.

The next moment another metal bin landed almost on top of one of the man who jumped away cursing. Two more men rushed towards them, one pulling out a gun and shooting upwards while the others rushed over to the building. Before they could reach it though two more trash bins fell down and slammed one of them unconscious to the ground.

“Wuhu~  One down!” They heard Fuma shouting from the roof.

“How many of those bins did they bring up there?” Ueda asked with a chuckle, but Taiga was still worried. They were trapped on the roof, weren’t they? He could just hope that they had planned this through until the end.

“Taiga, let’s move! Come on!” Ueda dashed out first taking the only remaining guard by full surprise as he knocked him out right away. He had peered up to the roof the whole time his gun still pointing upwards, so he hadn’t seen him coming at all. The other guards were already on their way up the stairs and it would need a few moments until the other guards would get what was going on and come around the building.

Taiga looked up at Fuma and Kento and they nodded down to him, Fuma giving him a thumb up before they turned towards the roof door ready to face their opponents.

“They will be alright!” Ueda tried to sooth him again and Taiga reluctantly turned away. He had his own part to play in this, so yes like Ueda had told him he should stay focused.

They searched through the first floor without any interruption and somehow it made Taiga feel even more anxious.

“Let’s search on the next floor, but don’t let you guard down! He might already expect us intruding the building!” Ueda whispered as he pointed towards the staircase. An old metal door blocked their way towards the stairs and as Ueda tried to pull it carefully it made an unpleasant creaking noise and Ueda cursed as he looked around, but nothing else was heard. They walked upstairs as quiet as possible and of course another door separated the 2nd floor from the stair case, but it was slightly open and it was enough to squeeze through and it was definitely safer than try to open it more, risking to get found through the noise.

“Taiga, let me go first!” Ueda whispered at the younger one as he had already reache the door, but he signaled him that it was okay and he carefully squeezed through the door into an almost pitch black corridor.

Ueda had just reached the door as Taiga turned towards him, but the next moment his eyes grew wide as he looked towards the other side of the door which Ueda couldn’t see. He dashed forward right away, but he was too late as the heavy door was slammed shut right before he reached it and he kicked it furiously, but it had been locked from the other side.

“TAIGA!” Ueda shouted out for him, but he didn’t get a reply or maybe he just couldn’t hear the reply. “DAMNIT!” After a few more furious tries to somehow break the door open he dashed the stairs back down to find another way to get to the second floor.

***

Taiga had actually heard Ueda’s shouting, but he didn’t dare to respond. The person who was standing opposite of him had slammed the door shut and locked it right away. Before Taiga could attack though he had pointed a gun at him and put his fingers to his lips as Ueda shouted out for him. After he was sure that Ueda had left he chuckled, a weird almost crazy expression on his face which gave Taiga the creeps. The boy in front of him was maybe just a few years older than him, but his attitude reminded him of Fujigaya’s a lot and it didn’t make the situation any less dangerous.

“So it’s Taiga?” The other one asked after another moment of silent, but Taiga didn’t reply. “Not the talkative type, I guess? Then let me introduce myself, not that you let me know your name willingly.”

“I don’t need to know your name,” Taiga let out annoyed by the played friendly behavior of his opponent, but the other one just laughed on that.

“Right, you will be dead soon anyways, it is not of any good for you, but I want to play with you a little bit before I eliminate you.”

He took a few steps towards Taiga, putting the tip of the gun to his neck leaning towards his ear. “My name is Hasshi, nice to meet you.” The way his voice sounded way too excited the moment he got closer made Taiga shiver and he wanted to take a step back, but Hasshi grabbed him by the hair holding him in place as he backed off a little bit to have a better look at him. “Why being so gruff? As I said I want to have my fun with you before having to get rid of you. And with such a beautiful face I almost feel guilty to have to kill you later.”

Yes he had definitely a lot of Fujigaya’s features. He wasn’t sure if he was copying him or if he was really just the same as him, but the next moment he found himself slammed into the wall. He raised his fists right away as the older one approached him again.

“Oh you really think you could win against me?” Hasshi asked with an excited smile before he looked at his gun with a kind of apologizing look before he let it vanish inside his jacket. “This might get even more interesting than I thought. You are way more fun than your little friend, he and his brave attitude are no fun at all.”

Taiga needed a moment to realize that he was talking about Kentaro. Had he brought him here? Or had he met him the first time they intruded the hideout? For now he had other things to worry about, like how to get out of this mess.

***

Ueda was already breathing hard as he finally found another staircase after running through three more corridors which seemed endless. He dashed up the stairs, but at the last moment he stopped, hiding behind one of the metal doors before two men which dashed out to the corridor could see him.

“When he said that there might be SOME people coming to interfere I didn’t expect the Reapers to stay in front of our hideout,” one of them shouted as they dashed down the stairs. At least they had caught up with them pretty fast and with them being right outside the building they were the best distraction they could get.

Ueda tried to calm down as he sneaked inside the corridor. He could still hear some people shouting and as a few more men ran towards the stairs as he passed around another corner a panicked as he had nowhere to hide. He ran towards the next door and the heavy double door opened without a single sound and he closed it just in time before the men passed by. He let out a relieved sigh before he realized that the light was turned on in the room he was standing in. He cursed in silence as he heard how someone was moving behind him. Of course, why should luck have been with him? He prepared to attack straight on as he swirled around, but he froze to the spot as his look fell on the person standing next to a big wooden table with a few chairs randomly standing around it.

“Nikaido?”

The one in question stood in front of him with an expression which seemed like a mask of stone. There was no way Ueda could read any kind of emotion on his face and it gave him the creeps. If this was how Kentaro had to face him after all he had gone through over the last months then he could finally understand why the boy was close to giving up hope.

Sure Nikaido hadn’t been a character which showed many emotions before. It had started with Kentaro’s arrival in the fight club that he actually opened up to everyone, but the person standing in front of him seemed like a puppet, nothing more. Had his guilt really destroyed him this much? After all these years he kept running and after finally finding a person he could start a new chapter of his life with he had been thrown back into the darkest part of his past.

“I am not sure if I should yell at your first or punch you directly?” Ueda let out, surprised by the hurt sound of his own voice. And the fact that Nikaido didn’t react at all didn’t make him calm down. He clenched his fists taking a deep breath before he would really lose it.

“Hey, sorry for making you wait, we- Oh…” Three more people entered the room from a small backdoor, all of them younger than them. The one, who had spoken up, walked over to Nikaido with an amused expression as he looked towards Ueda. “I didn’t know we already have guests inside?”

“Hikaru!” One of the others scolded him right away with a kind of worried look towards Nikaido and that was when Ueda got what was going on. There were a lot of papers spread over the table and whatever was going on was supposed to keep Nikaido busy for as long as possible. The look Nikaido gave Hikaru the next moment just confirmed his suspicion.

“You don’t know that he is here?” Ueda asked him and just for a split second something like worry showed on the latter’s face, but then he turned towards Hikaru who bit his lip, taking a step backwards looking over to his companions, but they didn’t seem willing to say anything. It was obvious that they had been instructed from Fujigaya to keep Nikaido busy until he got rid of Kentaro.

“What a freak do you have as a leader? You kidnap him to bring him here, so he can kill him himself?” Ueda turned from the others towards Nikaido who wore his mask perfectly again. “And you follow a person like this? Kentaro is right here in front of you and you didn’t even know! I hope you realize that whatever guilt keeps you here won’t be anything against the guilt you’ll feel when he kills Kentaro while you did nothing else, but wait patiently until it is over!”

Nikaido opened his mouth to counter something, but before any words came out a shot made them all flinch. To Ueda’s surprise Nikaido was the only one who hadn’t moved, he had kept a complete straight face.

Ueda was about to turn towards the door again to find out what had happened, because after all it wasn’t just Kentaro who was in danger, Taiga was on his own as well.

“Stop him!”

Ueda stopped on his own on Nikaido’s words and the next moment one of the other two had blocked the main door while the other one stepped away from the backdoor as Nikaido moved over to it.

“Where are you going?” Hikaru asked confused, but the death glare Nikaido gave him made him shut up right away.

“I am going to take a look at the chaos which you idiots brought up on us through leaving everything to Fujigaya! Don’t think this is over like this, I’ll make sure to punish you later!”

The three boys exchanged a panicked look on his threat. Yes they had just followed orders, but it seemed like Nikaido was just following his own orders when it was about their troop and even though his face seemed calm, Ueda could see that he was furious and a part of him still didn’t give up the hope that he was actually behaving like the most egoistic asshole out of the right reasons which he couldn’t show in front of the other members. But another part feared that it was already too late to get him back.

“Take care of him and then take a look if there are more intruders!”

Nikaido just left after that and Hikaru turned towards Ueda with a flick of his tongue. “Leaving the dirty job to us, as always.” Hikaru dropped to a chair the next moment leaving his companions staring at him.

“What? You are more than enough to finish him off, aren’t you?”

“Hikaru!”

“Stop the scolding Inoo! If there are more intruders I should keep my strength for later!”

“How about you move your ass out there and take a look then?”

“How about you would spend attention to your opponent, Daiki?”

“What, why-“ The next moment Daiki ducked away under a really powerful left hook from Ueda which would have definitely knocked him out right away. Ueda cursed as he realized that the boy was faster than he thought as he got on distance so fast that Ueda couldn’t even lunge out for another attack.

“Good try to get us when we are not concentrating, but we are not that stupid!”

The next moment Inoo screamed out as he found himself slammed to the ground with someone sitting on top of him.

“Stupid enough to not realize that someone entered the room though!”

Ueda had to suppress a smile on the scene in front of him, while the remaining two seemed more than startled by the sudden intrusion.

“Sorry to make you wait.”

“As if you would ever be on time, Fuma!” Ueda replied with a smirk and Kento nodded approving.

“Are we now fighting each other or what?” Fuma asked pouting, but he had to spend their real opponents’ attention again as Inoo tried to turn around under him to kick him off while Daiki was taking a run up at Kento to attack him. Ueda got stopped by Hikaru before he could interfere.

Fuma let go off Inoo to jump at Daiki before he could reach Kento, but the latter was way too quick to get hit by his punches. Fortunately his counter attacks didn’t show too much effect on him, but with Inoo attacking him as well now that he was back on his feet he needed a plan, a good and fast one.

“Ueda, where is Taiga?” Kento shouted over to him after Ueda had jumped back the moment Hikaru drew out a knife as Ueda wanted to attack him.

“We got separated at the 2nd floor on the other wing of the building.”

“Don’t worry then, he will be fine!”

“What do you mean? I thought Ryosuke and his men are fighting outside!?” Ueda shouted over to him impatiently trying to avoid Hikaru’s attack as good as possible.   

The next moment Fuma finally succeeded in sending Daiki flying and luckily he crashed into Inoo so that they both fell over. “They were not the only ones to arrive!” Fuma added with a weird smile.

“Kamenashi can’t be that fast! He has to get his men from the other side of the city!” Ueda yelled before he finally found an opening and he used it to send Hikaru to the ground, but the boy had twisted to the side at the last moment to avoid getting hit by the full force of it.

“Juri and Kochi brought some help!”

“More than we have expected to be honest!” Kento added.


	17. Chapter 17

 

For a few minutes Taiga’s and Hasshi’s fight was even, but then a shot distracted Taiga and he regretted it right away as Hasshi used his advantage and kicked Taiga into the next wall. Now that he had the upper hand he wouldn’t let off him that easily. He grabbed him by the hair and slammed him to the ground and sat on his stomach before he could twist away under him. To his surprise Hasshi didn’t punch him, but pinned his wrists next to his head. “I heard that our boss lost one of his presents before and I wonder if he was talking about you!”

Taiga didn’t even think about responding anything as he tried to rip himself out of his grip, but he was completely trapped and the way Hasshi seemed to enjoy how he had full control over the situation made him slightly panic.

Hasshi leant down to him and Taiga struggled even more as he came way too close. “Yes it was definitely about you, he likes your type the most! You are quite tough, but on the other side you are easily to break if known how to!” Hasshi let out a weird triumphing chuckle as he tightened his grip on Taiga’s wrists. “Then I might should consider not killing you or he might get mad at me. But that doesn’t mean that I have to hand you over right away, after all Fujigaya and I share the same taste!”

This time Taiga had no one to rescue him and he also didn’t want someone to, because truth was that he hated it the most when his friends ended up hurt, because of him. Before Hasshi could react he had ripped one hand out of his grip and punched him against the throat making his opponent pull away through the sudden pain. He used his distraction to free his other hand as well and grabbed Hasshi by the shoulders, turning them around.

Taiga tried to keep the upper hand as he punched Hasshi several times in the face and to his surprise the latter started laughing instead of defending himself. Blood was already running down his face, but he seemed to not mind at all.

“What a defiant present you are!” He yelled in amusement on which Taiga took him by the collar to bring their faces closer.

“You freaks and your weird foibles! You might even be worse than your boss!”

“I take that as a compliment!” Hasshi said with a dangerous smile before he took Taiga by surprise and grabbed him by the hair to pull him down. Taiga screamed out as Hasshi bit him on the neck with so much force that he feared that he would actually rip out a part of his flesh. He slashed around, trying to somehow push him away, but Hasshi took such a tight grip on him that he had no chance of getting away.

“Let go you freak!” Taiga shouted at him, but Hasshi had his teeth still buried in his neck and the next moment he had succeeded in turning them around again. Just as he sat on top of Taiga again he finally backed off, blood dripping from his lips, his own mixed with Taiga’s and it made Taiga feel nauseous, not to mention the burning pain on his neck which distracted him. But before Hasshi could think of any other humiliating move, Taiga tried to lunge out for a punch again, but Hasshi grabbed both his arms pinning them down over his head.

“Didn’t Fujigaya tell you that we don’t like the use of those harsh words? Using them will just lead to a punishment!”

“Don’t make me laugh! The most crazy yakuza troop in whole Japan wants to hold lectures about manners? You are a pathetic moron with a crazy leader!”

As Hasshi’s look suddenly darkened and he let go of Taiga’s hands just to close them around his throat this time, Taiga noticed that this had been the wrong thing to say. “Don’t you dare to make fun of Fujigaya!” He shouted at him as he tightened his grip around his throat making Taiga struggle with all his might. The boy had been crazy from the very beginning, but now he had gone nuts and even though he had said he would hand him over to Fujigaya instead of killing him, he seemed to have completely forgotten about it. “How dare you talk like this about a man like him?”

Taiga would have liked to shot back something at him, because he had a really twisted view of their leader’s personality it seemed, but he could barely breathe, speaking was no option. He slashed over Hasshi’s face with his fingers, but the other one didn’t even flinch and soon Taiga gave up on attacking, needing his hands to loosen his grip or he would suffocate him in no time. His desperate fight continued for a felt eternity, but Hasshi seemed to have gone into a complete state of numbness. His grip wouldn’t loosen and his eyes were filled with pure excitement over the way Taiga’s struggling got weaker underneath him.

For a moment he thought about giving up, because he had no energy left to fight back and he was sure that Ueda was fine and as soon as the others would arrive they would get Kentaro and Nikaido out as well. But was that his only concern? Ueda had scolded him before that he should care more for himself than for everyone else from time to time and wasn’t this time exactly now? If he’d die now, Ueda would maybe blame his death on himself for the rest of his life and after all that Kentaro had done for him, after he had almost died right in front of his eyes, wasn’t it unfair to give up like this?

With the last air Taiga had left he screamed out and with an enormous amount of effort he found the strength, from which he didn’t even know where he got it from, to pull Hasshi’s hands away from his throat. The latter was so perplex for a moment that Taiga managed to get one leg free and kicked him with so much force that he slammed with his head against the wall, slidding to the ground. Taiga sat up on his knees coughing painfully as he tried to fill his lunges with air again, but he couldn’t relax for long as Hasshi slowly got to his feet again.

“You are some annoying bastard! I should get rid of you to do us all a favor!” The next moment Hasshi pulled out his gun and Taiga could do nothing, but wait for the bullet to hit him, but before the shot fell the gun was kicked out of his hand and slid several meters over the ground. Before Hasshi even got what was going on his attacker had thrown him to the ground taking a hold of his arms on the back, ignoring Hasshi’s furious shouting.

“I would say now we are even,” the one holding Hasshi down said amused on Taiga’s stunned face.

“But I still want to punch him for leaving me behind like this!” Another familiar voice was heard next to him and Taiga looked confused from one to the other.

“Myuto! Fukka! What are you doing here?”

“Not even a thank you? Now I’m hurt!” Fukka let out laughing, still trying to stop Hasshi from moving, but the boy went furious under his grip.

“That can wait until later!” Myuto interfered as he saw how hurt Taiga was and that he definitely had other things to worry about at the moment. After reality caught up to Taiga he jumped up, but it took him a moment to be able to find his balance and Myuto helped him stand. “We have to find Tatsuya, I got separated from him earlier! We also still don’t know where Kentaro is!” Taiga wanted to search for them right away, but Myuto held him back. “Take it slow, okay? The others might have already caught up to Ueda by now and maybe they also found Kentaro!”

“The others?”

“Let’s say Juri and Kochi were more than pleased to see that we were not the only ones they found to help you guys out!”

The next moment they heard people shouting at the end of the corridor and with Hasshi cursing at them like this, it would be just a matter of time before they’d get discovered. “Okay important things first!” Myuto let go of Taiga to get the gun and rushed back to Fukka who dragged Hasshi to his feet. Before Hasshi could try to attack though, Myuto hit him with the back of the gun on the head so that he dropped unconscious to the ground. “You found yourself a really weird opponent, you know!” Myuto teased him, but Taiga just shook his head at him.

“It’s not like I choose those kinds of opponents myself!” He said scolding after taking a few more deep breaths before daring to walk by himself, but now that the dizziness finally resolved he was sure that he could still fight.

“You just have something on you that attracts weird people I guess.”

“That is also why I am friends with you!”

Without waiting for Myuto’s reaction he turned around to open the metal door so that they could get away from the people coming down the corridor. But the way Fukka tried to hide his chuckle, he knew that Myuto’s face must look hilarious.

***

“Oh how sweet you care for them, let me guess you are their trainer, right?” Hikaru asked teasing after Ueda shouted at Fuma and Kento to run as soon as they had the chance to get away from Inoo and Daiki, but the other two had followed them right away leaving Ueda and Hikaru alone in the room.

“If you got that you might want to give up before you get seriously hurt?” Ueda asked, but Hikaru just laughed on that, playing around with his knife. “I can tell how good you are, but unfortunately you have to get pretty close to actually win against me and I have a longer and sharper reach than you have!” Hikaru licked the side of the knife before he dashed forward and Ueda got on distance right away. He grabbed one of the chairs and held it in front of him to prevent Hikaru from getting any closer.

“Oh aren’t you cute, at least you get creative!”

“And if you would get realistic you would give up! You’ve heard them, the Reapers are in front of your hideout and in no time the Exposers will be here as well. Why do you keep fighting?”

“Because the Underground is our family and we have to protect it!”

“How nice you can all repeat those words like a dictating machine without even knowing there meaning.”

“Who said that we wouldn’t?”

“The fact that you follow that psycho is proof enough that you don’t get it! Judging by your age you have been a member of this troop for how long, two maybe three years? Did he ever tell you what happened at the time when the Titanium Triangle was formed? Did he ever tell you why he didn’t stop at anything to get Nikaido back?”

He didn’t need an answer, because Hikaru’s look told him that, of course, Fujigaya had never spoken about anything regarding his past. For him it wasn’t important, because as long as his followers would adore him and love him for his strength and assertiveness against the other troops, he wouldn’t need to let them know anything that would question his position.

The boy seemed taken aback for a moment and Ueda figured that after all there might be some members of the Fire Foxes which would really need just someone else to guide them, so that they could finally get out of this doom loop. But he wouldn’t be able to change his opinion in a few minutes and after he got a grip again the boy attacked once more. This time he grabbed one of the chairs as well and threw it at Ueda who blocked it with his own chair, but couldn’t see his opponent through that for a moment and that was when Hikaru appeared right in front of him. Ueda tried to lunge out with the chair, but he wasn’t fast enough and he jumped back with a small yelp as the knife had slid over his arm. He had let the chair drop, but couldn’t pull away fast enough to prevent the attack, but luckily Hikaru jumped back as well, obviously knowing that it was still too dangerous to come into Ueda’s reach for too long.

The wound wasn’t too deep, but it would definitely hurt a lot if he tried to punch him with his left arm now. Hikaru was circling around the table and Ueda tried to stay on the other side of it, but the next moment Hikaru threw his knife directly at him and because he hadn’t thought of this move Ueda was a little bit too slow to avoid the knife which would have hit with an unbelievable precision in his chest if he wouldn’t have been able to turn away enough to at least prevent a life threatening wound. The knife hit in his shoulder instead and the pain distracted him long enough so that he needed a moment to get that Hikaru had jumped on the table and was about to attack from above. And of course he had drawn out another knife, because it would have been too easy with just one.

Ueda had just ripped the knife out of his arm, but instead of attacking with it he tossed it to the ground and lifted his arms to block Hikaru’s kick, but the force behind it through his jump from the table was still slamming him to the ground and as he found his orientation back Hikaru was already right in front of him ready to stab him, but this time Ueda was faster and swept away his legs so that the boy landed on his side.

Ueda took the chance to get up and ran for the door. He wasn’t actually trying to run away, because after all there were a lot more people in the building and he could also ran into even more opponents, but the room was too spacious to fight an opponent like Hikaru. He would need the advantage of the narrow corridors so that he couldn’t attack from different angles. The moment he had reached the door though another sharp pain made him almost fall on his knees as another knife sunk into the back of his tight. After he had left the other knife on the ground Hikaru used his second knife to throw it without risking having no weapon left. But now he had to get the other knife first which gave Ueda some time to get out into the corridor. With a sharp breath he ripped the second knife out as well, but this time the wound was deeper than the ones on his arm and shoulder and it would be quite difficult to avoid Hikaru’s fast attacks like this.

He was lucky to find no one outside in the corridor and before he was able to vanish behind the next corner Hikaru had caught up to him. Even though the younger one had a huge advantage now he didn’t attack rushed, showing that he knew how dangerous it was to get into Ueda’s reach even with him hurt. And even though Ueda didn’t like to use weapons he made sure to hold on to the other knife this time, so that Hikaru would not get an even bigger advantage.

“And now what?” Hikaru asked after they hadn’t moved for a moment.

“I can ask you the same! If you don’t attack I’ll just take my leave, because I have more important things to do than play around with you!”

“And you think I’ll let you leave?”

“You’ll have to attack to stop me,” Ueda replied as he took the first step backwards towards the corner and Hikaru hesitated for a moment. Of course Ueda couldn’t really run away from him with his hurt leg, but Hikaru also needed a plan to attack him without getting in his reach and without losing his second knife. So for now they were stuck.

Unfortunately luck didn’t seem with Ueda as someone tackled him to the ground from behind. He hadn’t heard him approach from around the corner and through the force with which he got slammed into the ground he lost the knife and it slid over the ground towards Hikaru.

But Ueda’s attacker had underestimated his strength and so Ueda didn’t need long to turn out of his grip. He trapped the other one’s neck between his arms adding enough pressure to make the other one fall unconsciously to the ground next to him, but he hadn’t been fast enough to avoid Hikaru using his distraction to attack. He had taken a run up at him and kicked him to the ground placing himself on top of him. He had one knife in each hand and lunged out with them at the same moment. First it seemed like Ueda was able to avoid both attacks, but even though he succeeded in grabbing one of his wrists to stop his arm from moving, he couldn’t get a grip of the other arm fast enough before Hikaru pulled it back to stab him right above the hip, making Ueda scream out.

Ueda found enough strength to kick the younger one off him with his unhurt leg, but Hikaru pulled the dagger with him which caused him another unpleasant wave of pain. Nevertheless he tried to get to his feet again to Hikaru’s obvious surprise.

“Could you just remain on the ground already?”

“Why should I? Don’t tell me you try to win this fight without killing me!” To Ueda’s surprise Hikaru’s eyes showed that he had hit the jackpot which made him chuckle in disbelieve. “I get the feeling that it is not the Fire Foxes which are insane, but your leader who turns you to be this crazy and weird?”

“You have no right to speak like this about him!”

“Oh and that is because of what reason? Because I don’t know him? Because of him one of my friends is dead, another one turned his back on us and someone who wasn’t supposed to be part of this mess at all almost died right in front of my eyes a few weeks ago. I don’t need to know him, his actions tell me enough about him!”

Hikaru bit his lip as his confidence about being able to defend his leader faded after Ueda’s words.

“I can imagine that all of you have a really unpleasant past and I bet that Fujigaya dragged not just you, but also most of the others out of a horrible life and that you want to defend him! But playing hero and brainwashing people in being his slaves is different from getting rescued by a person who truly cares for you!”

Ueda could see how Hikaru struggled with himself as his hands started shaking, but as he looked up at him again he saw that even if he had cracked his trust in his leader he wouldn’t be able to completely stop him from fighting, especially not in the current situation. Before he could say anything else Hikaru threw one of his knives at him again, but as Ueda stumbled backwards lifting his arm so that it wouldn’t cause even more damage he was more than surprised to find someone stepping in front of him and blocking the knife with an old metal plate which he had definitely picked up from one of the old patient rooms.

Ueda dropped with his back on the wall as the person in front of him turned around with a teasing smile. “I would never have imagined that I would actually be able to tell you that you owe me something!”

“Who said I did?”

“What? I just saved your ass!”

“You saved my arm, congratulations! As you see it survived two attacks already!”

“Stubborn as always!”

“Right back at you! Did you just come to pick a fight with me or are you actually planning on fighting the real opponent as well?”

“And here I thought I would get some gratitude! But then l might take out my bad mood at him for now, because you are no fun as an opponent in your shape,” the other one mocked him before he turned towards Hikaru who seemed rooted to the spot since they had started throwing daggers at each other’s with their eyes.

“Hey!” Ueda shouted at him so that the other one turned back to him with a growl, rolling his eyes.

“What?”

Ueda didn’t say anything for another moment, before he looked to the ground and pushed his pride to the side for now. “Thank you, Nishikido!”    

“Damn, I wished someone from the others would have heard that, now I have no proof that you actually said this!”

“Asshole!”

“You’re welcome!”

Both chuckled before Nishikido turned back towards Hikaru who took a step back on the weird picture showing in front of him. He could tell that Nishikido was dangerous, but the smile he was wearing seemed like he didn’t want to fight just to protect himself, but to rip him apart to throw him over Ueda in little pieces of confetti to mock him even more that he had won a fight Ueda couldn’t handle.

***

“Stop running,” Daiki shouted at Fuma who tried to dash towards another staircase with Kento as they had already succeeded in getting to the 3rd floor without Daiki and Inoo being able to catch up to them. But this time Kento wasn’t fast enough and Daiki pulled him back on his shirt and he landed on the ground directly in front of Inoo. Daiki faced Fuma as he stopped right away and wanted to interfere.

“If you want to get to him, you have to get passed me!”

“If that is the only condition I have no problem with that at all!”

Fuma attacked him straight on, but Daiki seemed to know exactly what Fuma was planning and dodged his attacks perfectly. Kento would have liked to help him, but as he didn’t pay attention for a moment he was painfully reminded that he had his own opponent as Inoo kicked him in the back as he got back on his feet.

“Leave him alone!” Fuma shouted at Inoo and tried to pass Daiki again, but the latter hit a pretty hard spinning kick in his stomach as he didn’t pay him enough attention to even see the attack coming. He was forced to take a few steps back, but it would take more to stop him.

“Could it be that you are not taking me as a serious opponent?” Daiki asked almost hurt as Fuma didn’t even look at him, but tried to see how the fight between Kento and Inoo was going. “Okay that’s enough!” Daiki dashed forward and attacked Fuma straight on and luckily Fuma snapped out of it right in time to counter his fast attacks, but now he was getting pushed even further away from Kento who was crawling away from Inoo as he approached him.

“Oh aren’t you cute? If you think about running let me tell you right away that you won’t even come three steps,” Inoo let out with a weird smile. He didn’t really look dangerous and after Kento had met enough weird and crazy people over the last months he wouldn’t get scared that easily. As Inoo tried to kick him back to the ground, Kento blocked his kick and grabbed his leg to the other one’s obvious surprise. He took a tight hold on it and twisted around so that Inoo slammed into the ground next to him. Before Inoo could try to get the upper hand again Kento kicked him into the stomach and shot to his feet.

He started running, but not to get away. He jumped at Daiki the moment he had pushed Fuma back towards the staircase and Daiki went to his knees on the sudden kick he got into the back.

As Kento landed in front of Fuma, the younger one let out a whistle. “Seems like you finally start to memorize some good techniques from me!”

Kento smiled sheepishly, but before he could reply Fuma dashed forward and grabbed Kento by the shoulders to pull him away just in time before Inoo had reached him.

“Oh so now we are getting unfair?” Fuma hissed at him as Inoo was standing in front of them with a knife. He had tried to stab Kento into the back, but luckily Fuma had seen him in time.

“No, you are just getting unconcentrated!” Daiki yelled and unfortunately he was right. Fuma had pushed Kento behind him, forgetting that Daiki was on their other side and the moment he was back on his feet he jumped forward and pushed Kento down the stairs.

At the last moment Fuma had reached out for him and he was able to wrap his arms around him, but he couldn’t stop the fall. At the last step Fuma hit the wall with his head first and let out a sharp breath, but he still covered Kento protectively with his own body.

“Are you okay?” Kento asked as he tried to make the younger one let go of him so that he could take a better look at him. He had a wound on the head and he held his right arm with a painful groan as he tried to move. Inoo still carried the knife as he came down the stairs, followed by Daiki. Kento wanted to get up and step in front of Fuma, who obviously had problems to get his orientation back, but Fuma dragged him back down and tried to get in front of him even though he could barely get up on his feet in time.

“FUMA!” Kento screamed out for him the moment Inoo lunged out for him with the knife. Fuma didn’t even try to move his right arm which made it more than obvious that it was broken, but he had moved up his left hand in time to block Inoo’s attack. Even though the way he blocked it made Daiki stop behind them and Inoo let go of the knife with wide eyes. The knife remained stuck in Fuma’s hand after he had stopped it from hitting his body with his palm. The knife had stabbed through his palm and the blood was dropping to the ground, but Fuma hadn't even flinched.

He was breathing heavily, but his eyes were fixed on his two opponents. He made a threatening step towards them on which Inoo made a step back on the stairs. But Daiki snapped out of it first, because after all Fuma had a knife stabbed through his hand and his other arm was broken if they would attack together, they would definitely win against him.

“Stop!” Kento was already on his feet and prepared to somehow try to fight both of them off, but the moment he made it in front of Fuma a clashing sound made them all flinch and Daiki had to jump away first as an old hospital bed was tossed down the stairs. It hit Inoo before he could get out of the way and he fell down the last few steps of the stairs and to everyone’s luck he remained on the floor unconsciously.

Kento had pulled Fuma to the side at the last moment before the bed crushed into the wall next to them.

“Mh, somehow this didn’t work as planned. I am definitely better with a bowling ball. One out of 4 is not good!”

“You mean one out of two! Or did you want to hit them as well?”

Fuma and Kento looked at each other in confusion on the sound of two familiar voices and as they stepped back towards the stairs to be able to look up at the door a grinning Kamiyama looked down at them with Hirano standing next to him with a worried expression.

“Having problems?” Kamiyama asked teasing.

“You will have one when you don’t stop looking at me with this stupid smile,” Fuma shot back.

“Next time I’ll let you run into your own death then!”

“If you keep going like this there won’t be a next time, because I’ll make sure that you are the next dead one!”

“I would love to see you try, armless baby!” Kamiyama teased him, but the next moment he got a hit of the back of his head. Fuma started laughing, but the same happened to him, but just on the shoulder and more careful as Kento of course knew that he was badly hurt, but he still shook his head at their behavior.

“Kami-chan, could you for once just try to not be a total dick?” Hirano scolded him on which the older one pouted.

“It’s not like I am the special-rescue force here!”

“Oh really? And how come that you were the first one to dash out Myuto’s club in the middle of a tournament when Juri and Kochi told us what was going one?”

“That was- just because the tournament was boring. I hoped to get more interesting opponents here!” Kamiyama stuttered, before he hawked and turned towards Daiki who was standing on the stairs between them not quite sure what to do. “Speaking of opponents! Then let’s see if you are more entertaining than you friend!”

Daiki got a grip right before Kamiyama attacked him with a kick as he jumped down on the stairs. But now that he was alone and there were still three opponents, which could fight his confidence seemed to have vanished completely as it didn’t take Kamiyama more than three attacks to push him down the stairs. He stopped his fall at the last moment, but ended up right in front of Fuma who didn’t even hesitate to send him flying through a kick which knocked him out.

“Hey! That wasn’t fair!” Kamiyama complained as he came down the stairs followed by Hirano who looked at Fuma’s hand in shock, while Fuma seemed to even have forgotten that the knife was still stuck in his hand.

“It’s not like I wouldn’t have been able to win on my own, you know,” Fuma replied in a dangerous voice, but luckily Hirano and Kento stepped between them before they could seriously think about getting into a fight.

“Kamiyama, Hirano! Thank you for our help!” Kento said and bowed lightly towards them before he turned towards Fuma. “And we are going to get this knife out of your hand, now!”

“I would just rip it out if I could lift my right arm!”

“Good that you can’t, because that would make it even worse.”

“We have no time for this!” Fuma growled, but to his surprise it was Kamiyama who stopped him as he tried to pass them to get to the next floor.

“I heard just a short version of everything that is going on, but trust me when I tell you that Kentaro will be fine for those few minutes in which we safe your fucking hand!”

Fuma didn’t doubt his words, because he was more than sure that they weren’t the only people which came to help them, but he didn’t want to be the reason for them to get stuck here.

“Then how are we going to get this thing out?” Fuma asked annoyed and the way Kamiyama rolled his eyes at him didn’t make his mood any better.

“We are in a hospital, bright spark!”

“A _mental_  hospital,” Fuma countered.

“Makes it even more fitting for you!”

Fuma made a threatening step forward and Kamiyama would definitely have gotten provoked by him again, but Fuma made a painful grimace the next moment. As good as he wanted to hide it, the pain in his hand and the pain from his broken arm made it hard for him to focus. Through his injury on the head he also felt dizzy which didn’t make it any easier. Luckily Kamiyama finally got as well that they should hurry and he stepped back letting Hirano lead the way to the lower floor.

“If we find something to stitch your wound I can do it for you!” The youngest one said to Kento’s obvious relief. Because after all he could treat Fuma’s wounds and also put his arm in a more comfortable position if they found the right equipment, but he wouldn’t have been able to stitch his hand after getting out the knife. And it wasn’t just Fuma who wanted to hurry, because the danger was still not over.


	18. Chapter 18

The shot fell and Kentaro needed a moment to realize that Fujigaya had shot right next to him into the wall. The bullet had just missed his face by inches and he wasn’t sure if Fujigaya had done it on purpose or if it was really just luck.

“Don’t talk about him,” Fujigaya let out with a dangerous growl, but his hands started trembling lightly and that was the chance Kentaro had waited for.

“Why not? Are you afraid to hear the truth? Or do you already know the truth and can’t accept it?”

“I said shut up!” His voice got louder, but he took a few steps backwards instead of attacking him. He could just shoot him, but his look showed Kentaro that for now he wouldn't be able to do so. He had caught him off guard, haunting him with his own past.

“You really think Nikaido will protect you, because he feels guilty? Imagine how easily he can turn against you while standing right next to you! Betraying you the same way Wataru betrayed you!”

“SHUT UP!” Fujigaya lifted his hands to press them against his ears. He shook his head, letting out a furious scream.

Kentaro dared to get back on his feet and he shot Kitayama a warning glare as the latter tried to get up. He knew that he wanted to help, but if he interfered now he would risk that Fujigaya would just kill them both.

“You brought me here to see me breaking! You wanted to see how I lose my hope in Nikaido just so you could satisfy your need of full control. That was also the reason why you tried to get Nikaido back! You actually knew that he didn’t kill Wataru, but you manipulated him enough so that he felt guilty enough to almost break under the pressure. And you did all that just to hide the truth.”

“One more word and I am going to rip you to pieces,” Fujigaya growled dangerously, but he didn’t even lift the gun.

“The truth that your best friend betrayed you, because you have become a monster!”

Fujigaya cursed continuously as he tackled Kentaro to the ground, not even realizing that he had dropped the gun. Instead he punched Kentaro furiously, but luckily the boy’s condition was good enough to block most of the punches. Kentaro grabbed the other one’s wrists and tried hard to not let Fujigaya rip himself out of his grip. “He tried to overthrow you! Nikaido sided with him against you! And the fact that Nikaido isn’t here right next to you just proofs that you don’t trust him one hundred percent. You are still afraid that he will choose me over you, because after all the reason he is staying with you is fake. You made him believe that he has to atone for something which isn’t his burden to carry, but yours!”

This time Fujigaya didn’t scream at him, he also didn’t try to free himself. He remained silent for another moment before he threw his head back, laughing like crazy.

“So what?” He asked in a dark voice as he faced Kentaro again. But the boy stayed silent on the older one’s change of attitude. He had hoped that he would freak completely and that he could break him, but unfortunately it seemed like he was already too crazy to get pushed towards the abyss. He would willingly jump himself without any hesitation and that was what made Kentaro look over to Kitayama with a panicked look.

Kitayama understood right away and tried to get the gun and he succeeded in getting to his feet and get a hold of it, but Fujigaya didn't try to stop him. Instead he pulled Kentaro back to his feet and closed his arm around his throat so that he would stand between him and Kitayama, who pointed the gun at them.

“You think your aim is good enough to hit me instead of him?” Fujigaya asked with another laughter as he dragged Kentaro back with him, trapping one arm on his back to make sure that he wouldn’t try to free himself.

Kitayama froze for a moment and then took the gun down, but as he was about to throw it away and dash forward without it, even though he wouldn’t stand a chance in any fight at the moment, Fujigaya shouted at him to stop.

“Before you can even reach me I will snap his neck, trust me!”

And unfortunately this time Kentaro didn’t doubt his words. He had made the older one furious and he would just kill him with any wrong move, because he couldn’t control his own rage.

The next moment though there was shouting heard in the corridor from the backdoor and the door flung open revealing Yuma, Kotaki and Ryusei, stumbling inside, followed by a few of Fujigaya’s men.

“Damnit, why did we get almost all the people chasing after us? Couldn’t they have run after Ryo or the others?” Kotaki yelled out of breath as they still didn’t realize what was happening in front of them until they turned around ready to dash away from their chasers, but froze as their look fell on Kentaro and the others.

“What the fuck?” Ryusei let out as his look fell from Kentaro to Fujigaya and then on Kitayama.

Yuma didn’t even need to say something, he had gotten what was going on right away and before Fujigaya even realized what the boy was planning, he had dashed back to the other men. He attacked the first one straight on and twisted the gun he tried to point at him at the last moment, out of his hands. But instead of pointing it at Fujigaya, Yuma removed the magazine and threw it with an unbelievable precision at Fujigaya’s head. He had missed Kentaro just by inches, but luckily the boy wasn’t too startled by the sudden action of his friend and he kicked Fujigaya away who had loosened his grip on him through the sudden pain.

“Everyone stop!” One of the other men shouted as two out of the remaining five troop members pulled out guns as well, but Kitayama had lifted his gun and pointed it at Fujigaya so that everyone froze for a moment.

Kentaro looked from Kitayama to his friends and he soon realized the looks they all exchanged before they nodded and then all eyes were on him. He didn’t need to ask, because he knew what they were planning and they were just waiting for his signal. After all they were all here not because of him, but for him!

He took another deep breath before he finally nodded and then he started running towards the main door. The first shot fell directed at him, but Yuma had thrown the unloaded gun at the man shooting, so that the shot fell to another direction. Ryusei had already taken a run up at the one pointing the gun at Kitayama and stopped him right before he could fire.

Unfortunately Kitayama was stopped as well, as Fujigaya didn’t try to stop Kentaro, but picked up the magazine and threw it at Kitayama and attacked him right away so that they started struggling over the gun.

There were a few more gun shots after Kentaro had dashed out the door, but he didn’t dare to turn around. He ran down the corridor, but he figured that if he would take the normal staircase down to the other floors that too many people would block his way, so he ran towards the smaller corridor and rushed down to the 4th floor.

He wanted to reach the common room he had been in with Hasshi and the other before, because it was his best shot for now. It had a backdoor so he was sure that he could also reach it from this corridor, but when he wanted to run down the stairs from the 4th to the 3rd floor he stopped dead in his tracks as someone came up the stairs.

“Nikaido,” it was just a whisper, but it was enough to make the other one realize that it wasn’t one of his men coming down the stairs and he stopped as well, just a few steps away from Kentaro.

Again there was nothing on his face, not even a small change of emotion as he saw him. But this time he wouldn’t get scared by that. Nikaido had succeeded in making him believe that he was completely back to his old self. That he wouldn’t care for him and that he wouldn’t show mercy the next time he showed up. But now here he was standing, on his way to do what?

“He didn’t want you to know. He tried to keep you away! And still, here you are!” Kentaro said, his voice kind of proud, but Nikaido didn’t show a change of emotion.

“And what if? It’s not like he had to tell me everything he is doing. He is the leader after all.”

 “You said next time I would show up you would let Fujigaya handle me! But here you are on your way to do what?”

Instead of replying, Nikaido took the last steps upstairs and Kentaro moved back, not out of fear, but to vanish inside the corridor again. After all they could get spotted on the stair case way easier and that was also why Nikaido had moved forward, at least that is what Kentaro guessed, what he wanted to believe. Nikaido’s inner fight got visible to him more and more through the way he tried to somehow keep him on distance and didn’t want to let the other troop members discover him on the other hand.

“If you tell me to leave, then the answer is no! Not that I came on my free will this time anyways!”

“So you want to stay and get killed?” Nikaido asked in a cold voice, but instead of getting angry Kentaro escaped a weird chuckle.

“You know exactly that the only way to rescue me is by leaving this place together with me!”

“Then everything will end here! This is your last chance to leave!” Nikaido said as he turned around towards the staircase.

“You really think that I will run away if you threaten me to bring Fujigaya down here to kill me? He almost succeeded earlier, just so you know.”

Nikaido turned around to him again, but there was still no sign of worry, maybe a little bit anger, because after all Kentaro knew that Nikaido tried to make him leave through threatening him. “I made him freak by talking about Wataru, but I unfortunately couldn’t break him that easily. But you can!”

“There is nothing I can do and there is also no need for it, because this is where I belong!”

“Why? Because out of guilt? I heard everything from Kamenashi and Ryosuke! There is nothing, absolutely nothing you have to feel guilty about! Wataru protected you! He tried to safe his friend from drowning in the depths of corruption and he failed, but that is not your fault! You tried to help him, you tried to safe Fujigaya as well, but it was too late. Maybe it was too late for that generation of the Titanium Triangle, but now the Reapers and the Exposers are right in front of your doors, trying to help ME to get YOU out of here! Our friends are here! They risked everything to help me make it this far! I won’t let you stay behind to drown in lies!”

“They are no lies,” Nikaido hissed as his face finally showed some change.

“Wataru died for you, yes that’s no lie! But so did Senga for me!” On the mention of his friend’s name Nikaido’s face darkened, but he still didn’t interrupt him. “That you failed to rescue Fujigaya from himself, yes that’s true as well. But that you have done something wrong, that all this happened because of you and that you have to stay here to atone for this, that’s a lie! You are lying to yourself!”

“This is where I belong, this place is…” Nikaido stopped for a moment, obviously searching for the right words.

“Your family?” Kentaro asked in a hurt voice on which Nikaido look changed again. Finally his wall crumbled, just a little bit, but he had made the first bricks fall. “Then say it! If you can tell me that Fujigaya and the Fire Foxes are your family and you have to protect them, then I will leave and never come back! Tell me that it’s not me, but them you want to protect, then I’ll be gone forever!”

No answer. And that was what he wanted to hear, silence. He had been right the whole time and Nikaido’s mask falling bit by bit was making him stronger. All the fears he had been carrying around with him over the last months were resolving slowly and he took a few steps towards him, determined to finally reach him. “Say it!”

“You have about ten minutes to get everyone out or we will show no mercy,” Nikaido answered instead, about to turn around to the stairs again, but this time Kentaro dashed forward and instead of just blocking his way, he attacked Nikaido. He lunged out for a punch with all his strength and as Nikaido dodged it, he used one of his typical spinning moves to turn behind him to attack from behind, but of course Nikaido could read that movement better than anyone else and he blocked the kick that followed and pushed Kentaro back. The boy stopped in front of the stairs, blocking Nikaido’s way an rose his fists.

“What do you think you are doing?”

“If you are with them, you have to fight against me to get to Fujigaya! Tell me that they are your family and I’ll leave! But if you are just pretending to be one of Fujigaya’s brainwashed slaves, I am going to stay and beat some sense into you!”

“Move aside,” Nikaido growled, but Kentaro remained rooted to the spot. As Nikaido took another step towards him, Kentaro attacked straight on again, but of course he knew that Nikaido would block his attacks easily and he ducked and tried to sweep away the older one’s feet, but Nikaido jumped back. But Kentaro still wasn’t done, he jumped up with a high kick which came too fast for Nikaido to dodge it and as he blocked it, Kentaro moved forward to grab Nikaido by the wrist to pull himself closer to him and then he hit him against the neck with his elbow. Out of reflex Nikaido lunged out for a punch which hit Kentaro into the stomach and with a gasp he fell to his knees.

Thinking that it was over like this, Nikaido tried to pass him, but Kentaro grabbed his leg to bring him out of balance. As Nikaido tried to grab him, he rolled over to go on distance. For a moment he remained on his knees, pressing one hand against his stomach and took a few deep breathes. Of course the wound had opened through the direct impact, but he would still be able to fight for at least a few minutes. His last minutes in which he had to finally make Nikaido snap out of it.

Kentaro jumped up and took a run up at the older one, who dodged the kick which came directed to his shoulder, but Kentaro knew that he would dodge it, like he always did, and he shifted his weight to bring his hands down to the floor and kick up with his other leg from a different angle. This time his kick hit into Nikaido’s stomach, forcing him to make a few steps backwards and Kentaro screamed at his body to move, after this attack had caused him even more pain than he thought it would.

He dashed forward right away and tried to land at least a few more hits and even though Nikaido tried to block and dodge without countering, Kentaro’s wound caused him enough pain on its own to make him slow down after a moment.

“I am not going to let you go like this,” he yelled at the older one between heavy and arrhythmic breathes. Nikaido just looked down at his wound from which the blood was already slowly dropping to the floor, but again he wouldn’t say anything and it made Kentaro almost freak. He screamed out and went with a punch directly for Nikaido’s face. The latter blocked it in his palm as there was almost no force left behind it. Kentaro had gone completely pale and he had trouble to remain on his feet.

Nikaido wanted to push him away to walk towards the stairs, but this time he was stopped through a hug and finally he showed a reaction. A small one, but it was there. Kentaro had heard the small gasp he let out as he wrapped his arms around him and buried his face on his chest.

“You don’t have to stay here to protect me! I am strong enough to take on every fight in this world as long as you are by my side! Please Nikaido, please come back with me!” Kentaro’s voice was shaking and it wasn’t louder than a whisper. The next breath he took was filled with sobs, but he didn’t even care anymore. He had fought until his body couldn’t handle it anymore and he would keep fighting with words as long as his body wouldn’t give up on him.

He grabbed the fabric of Nikaido’s shirt even tighter as he realized that the older one tried to push him away. They struggled for a moment, but unfortunately Kentaro’s body was already too weak to win against Nikaido’s strength and he found himself on the ground seconds later. He didn’t even try to hide his sobs, nor did he look away as his tears wouldn’t stop as he looked up at Nikaido. Without any reaction the older one turned away again, but with his last strength Kentaro got up once more, pressing his hands desperately against his wound. This time he wouldn’t give in that easily.

“You’ve run away from your past, now you’re stuck in your guilt, but if you would finally dare to take my hand instead of shutting me out, I’ll drag you out, no matter what it takes!”

Nikaido still didn’t turn around and as he took another step away, Kentaro took a shuddering breath. ”Please, don’t leave me behind! Please don’t add me to a memory you’ve run away from!” Again he stopped and as he clenched his fists Kentaro knew that he had made his walls crumble even more. “You know that I won’t leave without you. You can try to throw me out, but I would come back over and over again and even if Fujigaya would threaten to kill me again, I wouldn’t leave you behind.” Nikaido tensed on his words and he finally turned around again. Kentaro could see fear in his eyes, finally he could read his emotions again. The fear of giving in, of dragging him into the mess from which he had tried to keep him away from all the time. “You want to protect me, right? But you are hurting me!”

The change on Nikaido’s face was small, but still visible to Kentaro and he wouldn’t stop now that he had finally made him listen. “You are my protector and you should be by my side if you want to protect me!” The steps Nikaido made towards him weren’t as threatening as before and Kentaro made a step forward as well, determined to not back off this time.

As Nikaido stopped a few steps away from him the fight inside of him was more than visible. He had tried to make Kentaro believe that he was dead, to make him leave after he had finally found him and it was obvious that he was still somehow trying to make him leave again, but not this time. Kentaro had finally reached the part of him which Fujigaya was unable to change. This one part of Nikaido which was reserved for him alone!

“You are stronger than this! I know that you don’t want to stay here! Please just for once let me protect you! Because the reason why you can’t say that they are your family is because the fight club has become your family! I am your new family!” Kentaro dared to make another step forward and to his surprise Nikaido didn’t step back, he didn’t even move.

But then Nikaido looked to the ground shaking his head like he was losing his own battle, but as he made a step backwards Kentaro grabbed him by the wrist with shaking hands, his determination stronger than ever. If he couldn’t make him stay this time, everything would be over.

“Nika, please don’t leave!” Kentaro hadn’t even realized that he had started crying again until his voice broke and he looked to the ground trying to blink away the tears, but he didn’t have much time to get a grip as Nikaido grabbed his wrist in return to pull him closer and the next moment their lips had finally found together again and a burning satisfaction ran through Kentaro’s body. He had clenched his fists into Nikaido’s shirt, afraid of him trying to run away as soon as they would part again, but Nikaido’s hands on his cheeks wiping away his tears made him believe that he had finally found a way out. The moment he lost the contact to Nikaido’s lips he looked up at the older one and his eyes had finally lost the dark aura which they had carried the whole time and Kentaro could see the real Nikaido again.

“I told you that we have to do something about this nickname!” Nikaido said in a teasing voice and as Kentaro started crying again Nikaido pulled him into his embrace, kissing him on the hair, whispering apologies all over again, but Kentaro’s tears wouldn’t stop, because they were tears of relief and he didn’t mind them at all.

“Please, don’t- Don’t ever leave me again. Please...“ Kentaro couldn’t even form a clear sentence with his voice shaking too much and he desperately tried to hold on to Nikaido even though the latter didn’t try to back off.

“Hey, it’s okay! Kentaro, look at me!” Nikaido moved his hand carefully under the boy’s chin and Kentaro looked up to him with teary eyes. “I swear to you that I will never leave you again! You are my family and I have to protect you! And to be able to do so I have to stay by your side!”

Normally Kentaro would have hit him now, asking him why he was so stupid and took so long to realize this. But after what they both had went through over the last months and knowing what a burden Nikaido had carried around over all those years, he couldn’t blame him. He had tried to safe Kentaro and the others by cutting ties with them and he had tried so hard to keep his walls up for everyone’s safety. But now that he finally dared to let Kentaro protect him for once, to be the one to get rescued, everything was about to change again. Whatever risk their choice contained, they would take it and Kentaro could see the determination in Nikaido’s eyes that he would stop at nothing to finally free himself of his chains of the past.

***

Nishikido jumped back at the last moment before Hikaru was able to slash through his face with the knife. He had tried to find a way through his defense over the last minutes, but the boy was very skilled, using his advantage of the longer reach, making it hard for Nishikido to get close enough. As Ueda before he would just need a few strong attacks to win this fight, but without being able to get even close to his opponent, this fight was getting a test of stamina.

Suddenly a few gun shots made them all freeze for a moment. “Damnit! We have no time for this!” Ryo complained.

After another try which ended with Hikaru slashing over Nishikido’s shoulder the moment he came too close, Nishikido took a few steps back again.

“Having trouble?” Ueda asked with a lopsided smile on which Nishikido gave him a death glare.

“Silence on the subs’ bench!”

“Hey, you were the one who said he can handle this all alone!”

“As if I would ask you for help! You wouldn’t be able to help anyways!”

Ueda would have loved to shot something back, but unfortunately he was right. Ueda had slid to the ground after Nishikido had taken over his fight. He was pressing his hand over his wound at the side of his hips, but in his condition he wouldn’t be able to fight properly.

“If you know that then concentrate and finish this! We have better things to do!”

“Oh you are the one to talk! The trainer at the side of the ring is giving the orders now or what?”

“Knife!”

“What?” Nishikido turned towards Hikaru just in time before the latter threw one of his knives at him again. After Nishikido had blocked it earlier with the plate it was deflected back to Hikaru so that he had both of the knives again. At the last moment he ducked and the knife crushed into the wall. But instead of facing Hikaru, he turned towards Ueda again.

“Could you warn me earlier next time and a little bit more direct?”

“What is more direct than “knife”? If I tell you to duck, because there is a knife coming I would still be talking while the knife would already be stuck in your body!”

“Always the master of excuses!”

“Attack from behind!”

Nishikido cursed, but turned around right away. Hikaru was right in front of him, but luckily Ueda’s warning came fast enough so that Nishikido was finally able to hit him with a kick before he could attack with his knife. Hikaru crushed into the ground, but he rolled over and was back on his knees with the knife pointing at him right away, so that Nishikido growled annoyed.

“I told you that he is tough!” Ueda said in a teasing voice.

“Okay that’s enough!” As Nishikido suddenly turned around and made a few big steps towards Ueda, the latter looked up at him in confusion. Ueda couldn’t back off any further as he was already sitting at the wall and for a moment he thought Nishikido would punch him as he crouched down in front of him. But instead of attacking him, he reached out for his belt which made Ueda freeze.

“What the hell are you doing?” Ueda yelled at him and tried to take away his hands, but the latter ignored him completely as he opened the belt.

“Stop struggling!”

“Then tell me what you are doing!”

“Why, are you afraid I would do something inappropriate?”

Nishikido started laughing on the way Ueda looked away, but because he didn’t have much time he stood up the next moment and pulled Ueda’s belt out of the latter’s pants. “I just need it to have a longer reach and I don’t wear a belt myself, that’s all. But I seriously wished someone would have seen your face right now!”

“You are so going to pay for this!”

“And so fast it is forgotten that I am actually here to help you!”

Ueda rolled his eyes at him, but Nishikido just laughed before he turned around to face Hikaru again. This time Nishikido was the one to attack first and as Hikaru tried to hit him with the knife, Nishikido used the metal part of the belt to slash it over Hikaru’s face, who let out a yelp and jumped back. He cursed and held one hand to his eye. He could still see, but the pain was visible on his face and he realized that he had lost his advantage.

“Come on, boy! You were so confident earlier,” Nishikido invited him with spread arms to attack, but the way he was waving around with the belt made Hikaru stay back for a moment longer.

The next time he attacked he was fast enough to avoid to get hit by the belt, but Nishikido also avoided his knife and punched him into the stomach, which stopped the younger one from getting out of his reach. Hikaru tried to stab him with the knife, but Nishikido got a grip on his wrist and finally twisted the knife out of his hand. With a kick against Nishikido’s ribs he tried to free himself before the other one could knock him out, but even though Nishikido let go of him he couldn’t get away fast enough. Before he was able to get out of his reach, Nishikido had moved behind him and pulled the belt over Hikaru’s throat.

The younger one slashed wild around him as Nishikido pulled on the belt with so much force that it almost lifted the other one from the ground, but Nishikido wouldn’t loosen the grip and it took just a few more seconds before his opponent’s struggling stopped and Nishikido let him drop unconsciously to the ground.

“Don’t even say it,” Ueda warned him, as Nishikido walked over to him with a triumphing smile.

“I didn’t say anything,” Nishikido complained as he helped Ueda back on his feet and gave him back his belt.

“Leave it at that then! You can mock me enough with your win against him later, but not now,” Ueda said impatient as he pulled the belt through his pants again.

“There they are!”

First both of them flinched as they heard someone shouting out towards them, but they relaxed again as they looked at the end of the corridor and found Myuto, Fukka and Taiga run towards them.

While the other two stopped in front of them, Taiga dashed towards Ueda and hugged him. But Ueda let out a pained groan, which made Taiga back off right away. “What happened? Oh god, your arm and the wound on your hip has to get treated as well,” Taiga let our panicked as he scanned Ueda’s body. Myuto stepped up to them right away to hand Taiga his jacket so he could use it to bandage the wound. As Ueda had closed it carefully around Ueda’s stomach he looked at him a moment longer.

“What is it?” Ueda asked confused.

“Ehm, why is your belt open?” Taiga asked totally perplex and the next moment Nishikido started laughing while clapping his hands in sheer amusement.

Ueda shot him a murderous glare before he closed his belt again. “No special reason, forget it!”

Taiga tilted his head and looked confused from one to the other, but he could wait for an explanation, because they had other things to worry about for now.

“Are you okay? You have a wound on your neck....wait, is that a bite mark?” Ueda asked back and this time Myuto and Fukka started laughing.

“I guess you two have to have a talk later, but could we get moving for now?” Myuto asked as a weird silence followed between them.

“If we run after Nikaido we might find Kentaro as well!” Ueda announced as he tried to lead the way, but his wound on the leg didn’t make it easy to walk.

“You met him?” Taiga asked confused and Ueda nodded, but his look told everyone that it hadn’t been a nice reunion. 

“Then let’s go! We can’t let the others have all the fun,” Nishikido said before he stepped next to Ueda and took his arm to put it over his shoulder. “We will get you all back to your fight club, because after all you still owe us a tournament!”

On that Ueda finally cracked a smile again and they started moving towards the higher floors as fast as possible.


	19. Chapter 19

“Such a shame that I have to kill you like this! I would have loved to torture you to death to be honest,” Fujigaya yelled at Kitayama as he finally won their struggle over the gun and threw Kitayama to the ground.

Kitayama had no strength left to defend himself after what they had done to him over the last weeks, but just before Fujigaya pulled the trigger he was violently tackled off him by Yuma and luckily the gun slid several meters away from them.

At the other side of the room Ryusei and Kotaki had succeeded in getting the upper hand over their opponents as well and they were now attacking the last two men standing.

“Just give up! The Fire Foxes’ hideout is completely surrounded!” Yuma tried to reason with Fujigaya who struggled to get out of the other one’s grip. Yuma tried to keep him on the ground, but Fujigaya got his arms free again and punched Yuma against the side of his ear with so much force that Yuma lost orientation for a moment and a sharp pain went through his ear. Before he could focus again Fujigaya had pulled him down on the hair and kicked away one of his legs to be able to twist them around so that he was sitting on top.

“Surrounded? You and your little friends can’t win against my men!” Fujigaya shouted at him as he threw more punches at him. The fact that his men were just losing a fight against Ryusei and Kotaki wasn’t even reaching him anymore. Reality seemed to be locked out of his head since Kentaro had made him freak and now rage was the only thing which made him keep fighting.

Yuma blocked his next attack and tried to shift away under him, but Fujigaya wouldn’t let him go that easily and he got up just to slam his knee down on Yuma’s stomach. As Yuma tried to take another breath, Fujigaya pressed his hand over Yuma’s mouth and nose. Before Yuma could start a counter attack, the older one moved up one leg to his arm and stepped on his hand to hold it down, while he held on to his other arm with his free hand. The more he tried to turn his face away to make him let go, the more violently Fujigaya’s grip got. “Trust me this will be over soon, but choking isn’t exactly painless, you know!”

“YUMA!” Kotaki tried to run over to him as he saw his desperate fight, but the two last men in their way were quite good fighters and they wouldn’t make it in time.

Yuma’s body started twitching violently under Fujigaya's grip. He could feel how his body got heavier through his desperate tries to take another breath, but Fujigaya just laughed at his attempts to turn away his face. Fujigaya was almost laughing hysterical by now, watching the boy getting weaker under him in amusement. Suddenly Yuma’s struggling stopped with his eyes half open, showing just white.

Fujigaya laughed out triumphing as he waited for the boy to completely stop moving, but he was pushed off him the next moment. Kitayama had gathered his last strength to take a run up at him and pulled him away from the boy.

Kitayama looked at Yuma in panic as he still didn’t move, but he had no time to help him as Fujigaya launched himself at him right away. Furiously he knocked him to the ground, but before he could attack, Ryusei and Kotaki had finally managed to fight their way over to them and Ryusei kicked Fujigaya off him.

“Yuma! Hey, come on wake up! YUMA!” Kotaki shook his friend on the shoulders and as he still didn’t react he hit him a few times on the cheek on which Yuma jerked and took a panicked breath before Kotaki helped him turn to the side as he started couching.

“You are such a freak,” Ryusei let out disgusted as he stepped in between the others and Fujigaya. But the other one just started laughing as he got up again and the other froze as they realized that he had landed right in front of the gun again and pointed it at Ryusei.

“No I am the leader of the Fire Foxes and this won’t change! Because you are all going to die here today!”

“RYUSEI, STOP!” Kotaki couldn’t stop his friend as he dashed forward, ignoring the gun. The shot fell, but the next moment the gun was kicked out of his hand and Ryusei landed a punch on his face before taking him by the collar so that he wouldn’t fall. Fujigaya raised his fist as well ready to punch him back, but then the main door was slammed open, revealing Nikaido and everyone froze.

“I would say that was it for you,” Fujigaya said triumphing and the way Nikaido looked at them with a dangerous glare, Ryusei let go of Fujigaya. Kotaki jumped up as his friend stumbled backwards, about to fall. As he caught him he realized that the bullet had of course hit him, but luckily just in the shoulder so for now he would be fine.

“I guess your small invasion hasn’t worked out, what a shame!” Fujigaya said as he walked over to Nikaido who hadn’t moved further into the room until now. He waited until Fujigaya had walked up to him and it made Kitayama and the others look at him questioning. “You are coming at a very good timing. How about you clean up the rest?” Fujigaya asked Nikaido with a lopsided smile as he stopped next to him and looked back at the others triumphing. But his smile fell as the others were the ones to smile next.”

“What’s so funny?” Fujigaya yelled at them in annoyance.

“That you really thought you could win against us!”

Fujigaya swirled around with wide eyes and he took a step back as he realized that Kentaro had stepped next to Nikaido. The moment the others had seen him they knew that Nikaido was back on their side.

“What? No way!” Fujigaya looked panicked from Kentaro to Nikaido. “Don’t get tricked by him! He tries to turn you against your family! Don’t let that happen!” Fujigaya shouted at Nikaido, but the latter just took a threatening step towards Fujigaya, who stepped back right away.

“Wrong! He is my family! They are my family,” Nikaido said as he pointed towards Yuma and the others. “So the only one who tries to make me turn against the people I love is you!”

“You came back to me willingly! You came back, because you know that your place is here! You have to stay with me!”

“Why? Because of Wataru?” It was the first time that Nikaido finally dared to say his name and he tensed for a moment. But as he looked over to Kentaro, the younger one nodded at him. “Wataru tried to protect you! I tried to protect you! Power corrupted you and stripping you of this power would have been the only way to rescue you, but we failed! I failed! But my only sin I am guilty for is for running away like this! Wataru had made up his mind! He knew how dangerous it was and he would have taken any risk to safe you! I tried to carry on with his wish, to rescue you, but you couldn’t live with his death and I couldn’t reach you anymore. The way you crumbled through his death, the way you got more and more corrupted by your loss and by your new position in the triangle made me run! I was egoistic and tried to get out of this mess without finding a solution! But here I am and this time I am going to make up for it! But standing next to you, seeing how you get destroyed by the Underground is not how I am going to carry on with Wataru’s wish.”

If Fujigaya had gotten Nikaido’s words wasn’t completely sure. He was shaking his head and looked at Nikaido with a weird expression. Was he hurt? Angry? Or just shocked that Nikaido finally stood up against him, instead of following him around like a beaten dog?

“I rescued you back then! I rescued all of you and gave you a new home and this is how you thank me for it?” Fujigaya let out in a low voice, but Nikaido didn’t let it affect him.

“Yes you rescued a lot of us and trust me when I tell you that all of us will be grateful for that forever. But that doesn’t mean that we have to follow you into insanity. Wataru was the first one to teach us that! Because we are grateful to you, we want to rescue you! Whether this is by talking you back to your senses or stopping you by force!”

Kentaro could see the change in Fujigaya’s eyes for which he had waited earlier. He had hoped to be able to break him, but what he couldn’t do, Nikaido could! The words of his most trusted member which he had tried so desperately to get back to his side even after accusing him for his best friend’s death, was finally breaking him.

He took a few more steps back and then his foot hit the gun. The other’s tensed, but they wouldn’t be fast enough if he decided to shoot around him now. Slowly Fujigaya lifted the gun up and took the magazine out to look at the remaining bullets.

“Two more bullets,” he whispered and his hurt voice made Kentaro shiver. He stepped closer to Nikaido, but his protector clapped him on the shoulder before he gave him a brief smile. Kentaro didn’t smile back at him, but he also didn’t stop him as he moved over to Fujigaya.

“Kentaro! Thanks god, you are fine!” Kentaro flinched as Taiga appeared next to the door with the others. The sudden appearance of the others made Fujigaya finally land back to reality and he lifted the gun, pointing it at Nikaido who stopped just a few steps away from him.

“What’s going on?” Ueda asked panicked as he stopped with the others right away.

“Summary: We have Nikaido back, but Fujigaya doesn’t really like that!” Kentaro let out without even looking at them. The next moment he flinched as Taiga suddenly tucked his arm into his instead of responding anything.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe preventing you from fainting? I am not sure if you have realized it as tense as you are, but your wound is bleeding pretty badly again and you look like shit!”

 Taiga gave him a small teasing smile before he also turned back to face the others in front of them with a serious expression again. Fujigaya had looked at them for a moment, but as it was clear that they wouldn’t interfere he turned back to Nikaido.

“So after all you betrayed me!”

“If you see it like this, then Wataru was the first one to betray you.”

“No, he would never do that!”

“Wake up Fujigaya! You can close your eyes and turn your back towards the truth, but you definitely know what happened back there at the Reapers' hideout! I never told you, but I don’t believe that over all those years you never learnt the truth! Otherwise you would never have searched for me in the first place!”

“He was my best friend! He was the only person I could trust, he would never betray me!”

“I didn’t see it as a betrayal! He tried to rescue you, that’s all! But I am here to do the same, so if you see my way as a betrayal, then his was the same!”

“Oh so you are trying to rescue me by stepping me in the back?”

“I try to protect you from yourself,” Nikaido explained as he dared to make another step forward, but Fujigaya just lifted the gun to his head with a threatening glare.

“I give you one last chance to come back to the troop!”

Slowly Nikaido shook his head and Fujigaya’s hands started shaking. He grabbed the gun with both hands now and Kentaro tensed, but Taiga stopped him from interfering.

The shock was written all over their faces though as Fujigaya flinched as well on the sound of a shot. Everyone flinched and ducked, trying to find out who had been shooting, but Kentaro’s attention wasn’t on the person who shot, but the person who got shot.

“NIKAIDO!” He tried to dash forward as Nikaido went down on one knee, holding his hand to the back of his shoulder.

A crazy laughter made them turn towards the corridor, where Hasshi walked towards them with an outstretched arm, holding the gun up. “Deserves you right, you traitor!”

 “Where the hell did he get a new gun from?” Fukka snarled, angry at himself for showing mercy and just knocking him out.

Nishikido was the first one to move as he realized that they would be next, because Hasshi had definitely lost it. Ueda had realized that he tried to cover them and he tried to pull him away, but of course Hasshi aimed for them next, but the shot was redirected at the last moment as Kento jumped out of one of the side corridors and struggled with Hasshi over the gun.

“Let go, you little bastard!” Hasshi shouted at him, but before he could get the upper hand Kamiyama kicked him into the side so that he slammed to the ground.

“Don’t you call him a bastard, you freak!” Fuma yelled at him on which Kamiyama raised an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“You still provoke people even though you can’t fight?”

“I can still kick him!”

“Fair enough!”

Before they could relax though, Hasshi was back on his feet trying to attack Kento to get the gun back, but Kamiyama was faster and blocked his way. They struggled for a moment before Kamiyama kicked him into the direction of Kentaro and the others.

“I am going to kill you all! No one who attacks our leader will get out alive!” Hasshi shouted before he wanted to get his gun back, but another shot stopped him. Confusion was written all over his face as it hadn’t been Kento who had shot him. He had been shot from behind, but he couldn’t even turn around to see who actually did it, because he dropped dead to the floor after mere seconds.

Everyone’s eyes landed on Fujigaya next. The leader’s hands were shaking, his finger still around the trigger. No one could really believe that he had just shot his own man. Even though it seemed completely crazy Kentaro could somehow understand why Fujigaya had shot, even though truth was that Fujigaya had definitely just lost it. But even though he had threatened to kill Nikaido, the fact that one of his men shot him was making him freak. It seemed like Nikaido and Wataru seemed more important to Fujigaya than all the other members of the troop. Killing Hasshi didn’t seem to affect him at all. But now Kentaro feared that even though he did it, because Hasshi threatened to kill Nikaido, he might just have done it to do so himself.

Nikaido got a grip pretty fast and luckily the wound didn’t seem too bad. He stood up again and looked over his shoulder at Hasshi before he turned back to Fujigaya. The older one was shaking all over by now and moved one hand into his hair.

“Exactly this is what Wataru tried to prevent from happening. He tried to save you from losing yourself!” Nikaido explained in a calm voice.

“I DON’T NEED TO BE SAVED!” Fujigaya suddenly yelled at him outraged. “IF YOU ARE NOT WITH ME I DON’T NEED YOU!”

“NO! DON’T!” Kentaro screamed out for Nikaido as Fujigaya lifted the gun at Nikaido again and Kentaro was more than sure that Fujigaya would shoot without hesitation this time. But Taiga held him back with all his might. Sacrificing himself wouldn’t help them.

“Then go ahead, you have one bullet left,” Nikaido said in such a determined voice that Fujigaya was taken aback for a moment. He didn’t lower the gun, but he also didn’t seem willing to shoot. “If you kill me now, then everything will be forgotten over the time. You can pretend for the rest of your life that Wataru and I betrayed you.”

“I did nothing wrong!” Fujigaya let out in a low voice and took a step backwards. His look had suddenly changed and this was what Kentaro had waited for. Either he would shoot Nikaido now or he would finally lose it. For Nikaido it would have been the best if he could have made Fujigaya surrender, but truth was that after all those years he was gone too far already. The Underground had destroyed him beyond repair.

“You betrayed me! Wataru-... my only true friend…he is dead, because of you!”

Nikaido didn’t even try to stop him from telling this lie over and over again. He knew the truth, but he couldn’t live with it. He would never be able to do so.

“I don’t need any of you! My only family is waiting at another place!”

Most of them looked away or closed their eyes as Fujigaya lifted the gun to his own head, but Nikaido and Kentaro kept looking. They were the only two which saw his last smile before he pulled the trigger. A smile which finally freed him from everything he had done. And with his death it was finally over!

Silence followed for a few minutes after the shot until Nikaido turned towards Kentaro. He didn’t smile, but he also didn’t show any regret. He wouldn’t load someone else’s burden up on himself again. As Kentaro moved forward this time, Taiga didn’t stop him.

Kentaro took a few steps before he started running and flung his arms around Nikaido, who closed his arms carefully around the boy’s shoulders. “Everything is over now!”

“No,” Kentaro said as he looked up at him with a light smile. “Everything begins now!”

Nikaido carefully stroke with his fingers over Kentaro’s cheek, like it would be the first time he was actually touching him. Kentaro didn’t take his eyes off him and met him halfway as he leant down to kiss him. The younger one put his arms around his neck and closed his eyes. The kiss was soft and still kind of greedy. All their worries, every tormenting event they had gone through and the fear of not being able to ever be able to be together again dissolved slowly, until nothing else but their true feelings and the hope for a calmer life from now on were left.

Even as Nikaido backed off, Kentaro let his eyes closed for a moment longer, enjoying the way Nikaido’s breath still touched his lips. Just as Nikaido cupped his face in his hands he slowly opened his eyes to look at him and there it was, his bright and honest smile. The proof that Nikaido had left everything behind him and was ready for a new beginning.

“Let’s go home!” He said and Kentaro nodded before he leant in for one more kiss.

***

 “Juri stop shoving so much food inside your mouth, it’s not like you are starving!” Kochi scolded him and the next moment he choked on his food, of course.

“Told you!” Kochi said as he slapped Juri a few times on the back until he finally swallowed the rest of the food and took a deep breath.

“Woah, for a moment I thought I am going to completely choke, because of this stupid bread!”

“So after surviving several weeks out on the streets, between the most dangerous troops in Tokyo’s Underground you get killed by a slice of bread, that is worth to get written down in a history book,” Massu said laughing as he and Tegoshi stepped inside the common room of the north Tokyo fight club and joined them at the table.

“Actually I thought that Nakai would kill us the moment we appeared in front of the club,” Juri let out with a shiver as he remembered their boss’s reaction.

“He is even scarier than I remember him,” Massu said with a light chuckle.

“But he freaked out of the complete wrong reason! I really thought for a moment that he wouldn’t allow us back in as outraged as he was. But when he scolded us for not telling him about the fight at the Fire Foxes’ hideout, while Myuto’s, Fukka’s and even Kimura’s club were involved, I really had to try hard not to start laughing,” Kochi said with a smile and the others nodded, a light laughter filling the room.

Three weeks had passed since they had made it back to their club. Tegoshi didn’t even have to convince Massu to come back with them, because the latter had promised right away to not run away like this again.

“But I still can’t believe how lucky we were that Kimura was in the city as well. If we wouldn’t have found them at Myuto’s club who knows how the fight would have ended,” Kochi said, but tried to not think about how bad everything could have turned out.

“Then we would have had more to do at least,” Massu pouted. “We were outside the whole time! When Kamenashi finally arrived and we were enough people to finally break through their defense completely, everything was already over, so boring!”

“So next time you want to be send first to come back with several stab wounds, a broken arm or other injuries?” Tegoshi asked teasing.

“If they would have send me in first, there wouldn’t be so many people injured, but like this I couldn’t even show them my full potential!”

“Just because Nakai put you into the 4th class doesn’t mean you have to behave like Fuma in his early days,” Tegoshi scolded him, but Massu ignored him and rocked his chair backwards with a sulky expression.

“I just want to finally get down to business again! All those street fights were a nice distraction, but to be honest I’ve missed the fight clubs!”

Massu’s words made the others smile, because it was the same for them.

“The fight club is our family,” Kochi repeated Kentaro’s words while his smile grew even wider as he looked at his friends.

“And we have to protect our family,” Juri said as he clapped him on the shoulder.

“And that’s what we did and what we will do from now on,” Tegoshi added.

The next moment Massu let out a yelp as he fell backwards with the chair and landed on the ground.

“I would like to say that I can protect you from something like this, but your stupidity is your own problem”, Tegoshi teased his boyfriend who started laughing instead of getting angry at him.

For months they hadn’t known if they would be able to be this carefree again and it made every little moment together with their friends even more precious, especially because the past happenings had brought some changes with which they would have to deal with as soon as everyone would be fine again.

***

“Hey, how are you feeling”, Kentaro asked as he walked inside Nikaido’s room who was lying on his bed, but looked up at him scolding, as the boy closed the door behind him.

“Why do I think that the doc didn’t give you the okay to walk around by yourself?”

“Oh come on, as if you would do anything he says! You vanished out the med room after 3 days!”

“My wounds weren’t as bad as yours,” Nikaido defended himself, but as Kentaro sat down next to him on the bed, he squeezed his shoulder on which the older one flinched.

“Oh not that bad, yeah?” Taiga replied teasing. “But trust me, you really don’t want to stay at the med room at the moment.”

“Why not?”

“Because Ueda starts feeling better as well and let me tell you that it feels really weird to be in the same room with him and Taiga at night! Even though they think I won’t hear them, I am not deaf! I am just happy that Ueda was still too hurt until now that they could actually do nothing else than sneak into each other’s beds. But now he is almost fine again and-“

“Stop, I don’t need more details,” Nikaido stopped him as he put his hands over his face for a moment, shaking his head.

“Then stop scolding me for leaving that tension overloaded room! Or did I choose the wrong room to come to?” Suddenly Kentaro’s light mood darkened a little bit and Nikaido realized it right away. He sat up and pulled Kentaro closer, so that he could crawl on the bed completely. Nikaido searched for his hand and entwined their fingers before he gave the younger one a short kiss on the hair.

“This is never the wrong room for you to choose! I will never turn my back on you again! I am so sorry for making you go through this hell!”

“Naturally anyone would say that if possible they would have liked to not experienced what we did over the last months, but to be honest, I am glad that I did,” Kentaro said with a faint smile which made Nikaido look down at him questioning. “Don’t understand me wrong, I don’t want something like this to ever happen again, but because it happened I can prevent it from happening again! Through all the hardship we had to face, I finally got to know you completely! There are no secrets left and I want it to stay like this!”

“Perfect, then you can finally tell me the real reason behind your choice of keeping the Titanium Triangle together,” Nikaido’s sudden change of topic made Kentaro tense a little bit. He shifted away just to have a better look at him, but there was nothing judging in his eyes.

“I told you already and honestly you should understand the reason the best. If the Triangle would get destroyed Kamenashi and Ryosuke would get even more control over the city and at least Ryosuke is the best candidate to lose it next. The Triangle system had proven itself really helpful in the Underground over years. With their new leader the Fire Foxes will return to be one of the pillars of this Triangle again.”

“Okay let me rephrase this question, so that you can’t run away with all your logical phrases,” Nikaido said serious and Kentaro rolled his eyes before he even asked. “Why did you ask Kitayama to take over the Fire Foxes?”

“Is it really so important? It’s not like it was my decision! I just suggested him after we discussed with Kamenashi and Ryosuke that the troop shouldn’t get punished for the mess their leader had brought up on them. After all there were a few good guys among them and Kitayama will definitely be able to show them the right way.”

“What happened between you two that you have this opinion of him?”

Of course Nikaido wanted to say something else, but Kentaro didn’t need to hear it out loud. Nikaido’s eyes showed already that he was thinking of Senga, but before he could drown in his past again, Kentaro put a hand to his cheek to make him look at him.

“Don’t get me wrong, I will never forgive him for what he has done! And he knows that! I think I’ve made myself clear a lot while we were trying to get you back. But he is the main reason why I got you back and if we like it or not he deserved something for it in return.”

“Okay he didn’t betray us again, but what makes you so sure that he won’t grew into the next Fujigaya?”

“Because it would put me in danger and that is something he will never let happen again,” Kentaro explained, but it was obvious that he tried to get done with this topic as fast as possible. He tried to distract Nikaido with his hands on his face, but as he wanted to lean in for a kiss the older one held him away on his shoulders and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Are you seriously telling me that Kitayama had a thing for you?”

Kentaro rolled his eyes on the other one's question, but Nikaido was obviously not willing to let the topic drop. “And what if? It’s not like he tried to make a move on me. Actually it’s quite funny, because he left that move to Shige who wasn’t interest at all!”

While Kentaro's lips formed a smile as it was really a weird move for him now that he knew that Kitayama would have actually enjoyed switching places with his partner, Nikaido’s look darkened. As Kentaro looked up at the older one again his smile vanished as he realized that he still hadn’t told him about it, because when would he have been able to? For Kentaro it wasn’t such a big deal anymore after all. He wanted to concentrate on their friends and their own relationship and not drown in past events as he did so often before.

“What was that about secrets?”

“I just forgot about it, okay? It’s not like I’ve had so many opportunities to tell you!”

Kentaro stared at him a little bit longer and as it seemed that the older one wasn’t willing to say anything else, he flicked his tongue in annoyance before he tried to get up from the bed.

“Fine, if you don’t have anything else to say I’ll just search myself some other company,” Kentaro said as he was almost back on his feet, but before he could turn away completely Nikaido had grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him back.   

Nikaido’s kiss which followed marked the end of their conversation and Kentaro had to try hard to not smile against the other one’s lips. He had been sure that Nikaido wouldn’t let him leave like this, because after all everything was told now and there was no need for either of them to start a discussion again.

Kentaro sat up on his knees and put his hands to Nikaido’s face before he moved even closer to be able to move one leg, sitting down on his lap. The younger one parted his lips before Nikaido could even ask for access and while their kiss turned deeper and greedier, Nikaido’s hands traveled under the younger one’s shirt, making him shiver. For months Kentaro had hoped that they would find back together and the way Nikaido’s hands moved over his back and refused to back off even an inch, it was clear that his protector had hoped for it as well, even though he had tried to convince himself that keeping Kentaro away would be the best way to protect him.

“Don’t you ever dare to leave my side again,” Kentaro whispered against Nikaido’s lips as they finally parted again.

“Never”, Nikaido let out between heavy breathes before he closed the gap between them again while pushing Kentaro up so that he could sit up completely as well. The next time their lips lost contact was just to get their shirts out of the way as fast as possible and even though they could have speeded things up with just getting undressed without interruption, they kissed again after each piece of clothes which fell to the ground, until nothing was left anymore.

The way Nikaido refused to take his eyes of him, made Kentaro shiver. It was weird, because the look he gave him was exactly the same look which had made him feel insecure as he first met Nikaido, but it also had drawn his attention and now it was like his eyes would hypnotize him when he gave him this look. Carefully, but determined Nikaido pushed him down on the sheets and even though Kentaro would have loved to pull him down into a kiss again, he just kept staring at him for another moment. He moved one hand up to his face to trace the older one’s chin line, before his fingers ended up on his lips and slowly Nikaido leant closer.

“I love you”, Nikaido whispered against his lips and those words made Kentaro feel like his emotions would jump out of his body. He put his hand to Nikaido’s hair to pull him down into a passionate and long kiss before he let him back off once more.

“I love you too,” he replied serious, but he couldn’t hide the small giggle which followed and Nikaido escaped a chuckle as well.

“Because of you I am getting so cheesy”, Nikaido let out in amusement, but Kentaro shook his head.

“No, you are getting honest and true to yourself and that is nothing to be ashamed of”, Kentaro explained and before Nikaido could reply something he pulled him into the next kiss and moved his hands longing down over his stomach. It didn’t take long before he rocked his hips up against Nikaido’s and the latter needed just a few moments of skilled finger work to be sure to not hurt Kentaro after they had to take a break of this for a while. He also tried to somehow find a good position so that he wouldn’t hurt Kentaro’s wound on the stomach which was a lot better through the rest he was forced to take over the last weeks, but still not completely healed. He also had to find a good position to take as much weight as possible from his own shoulder.

Kentaro tried hard to not lose the contact to Nikaido’s lips as the older one entered him, but as Nikaido gave him the first thrust he threw his head back and Nikaido used the opportunity to bury his teeth in the younger one’s neck, gaining a moan in respond.

“I’ve missed the desperate sound of your voice”, Nikaido said kind of satisfied as it got difficult for Kentaro to stop moaning at all with the way Nikaido’s lips explored his upper body, while he gave him slow deep thrusts to drive him insane. In respond Kentaro dug his fingernails into Nikaido’s back for a moment, but the latter just gave him a low chuckle in return.

“Nika…”

“And here we go again.”

Kentaro opened his eyes to glare at him, but before he could scold him Nikaido gave him a short and intense kiss. “I didn’t say you have to stop calling me that.”

“So you finally approve of the name?”

“I wouldn’t call it approving, but let’s say this name rescued me, so yes you are allowed to call me this as often as you want, but please not at the training!”

“As long as we don’t have sex at the training, I guess I will be able to hold back,” Kentaro replied teasing before he wrapped his arms around Nikaido’s neck again.

“Then I guess this topic is cleared as well,” Nikaido said before he put his lips back on Kentaro’s and wrapped his hand around his manhood at the same moment. Kentaro tried to suppress his moans to not break the kiss, but the way Nikaido picked up pace with his thrusts it was almost impossible to not back off.

Nikaido’s lips curled up against his for a moment, before he stroke over his whole length with a firm grip and Kentaro was already way too close, so he broke the kiss after all, a deep moan escaping his lips. He grabbed Nikaido by the hair so that the latter couldn’t move away. Their eyes locked and even though it was hard for Kentaro to stay concentrated he refused to shut his eyes. Just as he reached his climax he threw his head back and moved his hands to the sheets to grab them to not hurt Nikaido with his grip. After such a long time it felt more intense than ever before and Nikaido followed him just a few thrusts later with a way too pleasured moan escaping him next to the younger one’s ear.

For a moment longer Nikaido remained on top of him waiting until both of them had their breathing pace under control. As Kentaro finally looked up at him again the older one gave him one of his bright smiles and Kentaro reached out for him right away for another kiss. As they parted again Nikaido stroke a few strains of hair out of the younger one’s face and gave him a short kiss on the forehead.

“I wonder how I was able to stay away from you for so long,” Nikaido asked with a hint of guilt in his voice.

“Because you were pretty good in lying to yourself, but you have to promise me that you will never hide something from me again,” Kentaro replied as he stroke over Nikaido’s cheek and the latter grabbed his hand to squeeze it lightly, before he leant in for one more passionate kiss.

“Never, I swear!” Nikaido lay down next to Kentaro after that and pulled him in his embrace. They boy rested his forehead against the latter’s shoulder wjich wasn't hurt and closed his eyes. It still felt kind of unreal to be able to just lie like this next to him and just a small part of him still feared that everything could crumble again, but he hoped that time would take away this fear as well.

For that night they remained silent, both deep in their own thoughts. There was still a lot to face for them and other problems would definitely show up in front of them, but as long as they stayed together and faced them hand in hand Kentaro was sure that nothing could rip them apart again.


	20. Epilogue

 

“Hey, everything ready?” Kentaro asked as he stepped in the doorframe of Taiga’s room where the boy just put his last clothes into his bag. The younger one turned towards him with a smile, but even though Kentaro wanted to return his smile, it didn’t come out as convincing as he wanted it to and the other one noticed of course.

“Please don’t look so down or I will feel bad,” Taiga said as he threw the bag over his shoulder and approached Kentaro who shook his head right away.

“No, don’t feel bad! There is nothing bad about it! Honestly I envy you a little bit and I guess it is the best thing you can do after all the chaos.” Kentaro paused for a moment and let out a small sigh before he tried to smile at his friend again. “Sorry I guess I am just getting too emotional! Let’s get to the others, they are definitely waiting!”

Taiga nodded and followed his friend to the exit of the North Tokyo fight club where as they guessed everyone was waiting already. Ueda was talking to Tegoshi and Massu, while Kochi and Juri where talking to Fuma and Kento, but Kentaro could see already that Juri was feeling as troubled as Kentaro and the others tried their best to sooth him, but it would be just a matter of time before he would start crying.

Nikaido was standing next to the door giving them a brief smile as he saw them approaching. “Everything ready?” He asked Taiga and as the boy nodded. Ueda turned towards him as he realized that he was there. He approached the boy with slow steps and gave him a short kiss on the hair before he looked at him.

“Are you really sure you want to go?” Ueda asked with a light smile and Taiga nodded with a determination in his eyes which showed everyone that he had thought this through.

“After all you promised me to take me with you and show me the country,” Taiga said with a bright smile before he waited for Ueda to get his bag which he had left next to Massu and Tegoshi.

“We’re going to leave first,” Fuma announced suddenly, so that everyone turned to them.

“Why is that?” Kentaro asked confused, but Fuma looked away, embarrassment showing on his face.

“Don’t tell me you can’t send us off?” Taiga asked with a chuckle and it was obvious that he was right.

“Shut up, I just don’t want to stay here all day waiting for all of you to say your farewell,” Fuma pouted and the others chuckled on the way he tried to play tough. The next moment though Juri had thrown his arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug.

“Idiot, those two are coming back! You are not, so don’t even think that your farewell is easier,” Juri let out in a shaking voice and as he buried his face on Fuma’s shoulder the latter grabbed his shirt on his back to pull him closer.

“We are not out of the world though,” Kento said encouraging, as he stroke over Juri’s back comforting as the other one backed off with a small sob before he gave Kento a last hug as well.

“But you’ll be out of the Underground and even though it is hard for us, we want you to stay out of it as best as possible and for that we have to stay away from you as well,” Nikaido explained.

After everything had calmed down in their fight club again Fuma had announced that he would leave the club together with Kento to give him the chance to start over in a quieter and less dangerous environment. Everyone knew that it was a more than tough decision for him, because the fight club was Fuma’s home, his family! And leaving it behind was maybe the hardest decision he had ever made. But it also showed how much he loved Kento and that he understood that the boy wasn’t made for a life in the Underground.

“You thought about this a lot and I know that you can make it! As long as Kento makes sure that you won’t get in any fights,” Kentaro added as he stepped forward and stretched his arm out towards Fuma. The younger one cracked a bright smile on that before he pulled Kentaro into his embrace on his arm and closed his arms around him.

“Thank you so much for everything! Through you we all changed so much over the last year and I can’t even put into words how thankful I am to you!”

Next to them Juri’s sobs got louder through Fuma’s words and Kento as well as Kochi were also fighting with their tears.

Tegoshi and Massu were the next ones to say goodbye to them. Fuma hit Massu against the shoulder as he stepped back again with a challenging expression. “Protect them from the other fighters in the club. There are a few idiots in the 3rd and 4th class,” Fuma told him and Massu cracked a lopsided smile.

“As if any of us would let our family down again!”

“We will watch each other’s back so you do the same,” Tegoshi said encouraging as he ruffled through Kento’s hair who nodded at him.

“Come here you idiot or do you want to let us leave like this?” Fuma scolded Taiga as the younger one didn’t join them. Taiga had a weird expression on his face, but Kentaro knew that he tried hard to keep it together and kept his distance to not get too emotional.

“You are so annoying,” Fuma let out before he made a few big steps towards him and before Taiga could back off Fuma hugged him and that was the moment when Taig’s sobs were heard as well.

“Why are you idiot crying? You are leaving as well, that’s not fair,” Fuma scolded him, but his voice was already shaking as well.

“But when we come back, you won’t be here anymore,” Taiga whispered against the other’s shoulder and that was when Fuma failed in keeping his own tears from finally falling.

“Then make sure that you are staying safe and come back here to help those idiots we leave behind, because without you and Ueda they will end up in the next huge chaos in no time,” Fuma said in between his sobs and Taiga nodded against his shoulder before he backed off, wiping away his tears with the same embarrassed expression as Fuma on which everyone else escaped a small chuckle.

Fuma couldn’t actually stop his tears anymore after that, but he just hugged Ueda next without trying to get too emotional again. As he turned towards Nikaido though, he stopped for a moment making the latter raise an eyebrow at him.

“No hug for me?” Nikaido asked teasing as he of course knew right away that Fuma wasn’t sure if he was actually allowed to hug him or not, but on the way Nikaido spread his arms he finally hugged him as well. Kento followed his example and gave everyone else a hug before they stepped back and faced everyone with a kind of sad, but also confident smile.

“If anything goes wrong, you can always count on us! We will be always here for you,” Kentaro said serious and the others nodded. Kento and Fuma bowed lightly towards them before they faced each other with a smile and entwined their fingers as they turned away from them. They held up their free hands clenched to fists once more as they walked away, but didn’t turn around again.

“I really hope they will be okay,” Tegoshi let out a little bit worried, but Massu pattered his shoulder.

“They know that they can come back whenever they want, so for now we can just have faith in them,” Massu said encouraging.

“And now to you two adventures,“ Nikaido announced and everyone turned to face Ueda and Taiga. While the older one moved over to Tegoshi and Massu to get his bag and bit his farewell, Taiga still struggled to get a grip on himself again after sending Kento and Fuma off.

“Don’t even try to play tough, you will fail anyways,” Kochi teased him as he stepped in front of him and Taiga started crying again before Kochi even pulled him into a hug. Juri threw his arms around both of them right away and they remained like this for a moment longer before they gave Taiga some space to breathe again and moved on to Ueda.

“Don’t worry, we will be waiting for your return”, Kentaro said to his friend and instead of giving him a hug he cupped his face and gave him a short kiss on the forehead. Taiga let out a small chuckle on that and pulled his friend into a hug nevertheless.

“Hey did I just hear a sob?” Taiga asked as he wanted to let go again, but Kentaro held him in place so that he couldn’t look at him.

“Stupid, you are imagining things!” He scolded him, but as he finally let go he turned away his face right away and wiped with his sleeve over his face. Taiga just shook his head and turned to Nikaido instead of teasing his friend.

“Make sure that you are both coming back safe,” Nikaido told him and Taiga nodded with a smile.

“As Kentaro and you, we also had a lot to talk about over the last weeks and there is no way we would do something that would worry the other one again.”

“Good to hear,” Nikaido said as he gave the boy a small clap on the cheek on which Taiga gave him a bright smile before Ueda approached them. He gave Kentaro a short hug and Nikaido had to smile as Kentaro told him the same as he had just told Taiga.

“Even with you out of the club you are still his protector, don’t forget that,” Nikaido told his friend as they stood in front of each other.

“And finally I am a protector without having to be a trainer,” Ueda added kind of relieved and Nikaido hit him lightly against the arm.

“Don’t get too carefree about that! I just agreed to be a substitute trainer, not more! Don’t you dare to put that responsibility on me completely! Nakai is angry enough that he has no class 5 fighter left like this.”

“Give Massu a few more months and he might get closer to your number one title.”

“I see it as a challenge,” Massu shouted from the side with a confident smile.

“Closer maybe, but that place is mine and I claim it back as soon as you two are back!” Nikaido warned him before he bit Ueda farewell.

“Please stay safe,” Kochi shouted after them as they took their first steps away from the group and they both turned around to them once more, waving at them.

They all remained outside the club for a while longer after the others were out of sight. They were all lost in their own thoughts, but no one really seemed down and that was what made Kentaro smile. The next moment Nikaido put his hand on his shoulder and smiled down to him.

“I guess we should start our preparation for the next tournament! We don’t want to the Osaka club to beat us just because we are a few members short this time, right?”

On Nikaido’s announcement everyone cracked a bright smile and Kochi and Juri went in first. Juri was already discussing strategies to beat Ryusei, while Massu rolled his eyes on his overconfidence as he followed them together with Tegoshi.

“I hope this time the tournament goes by without any kind of interruption,” Kentaro said as he looked after their friends.

“It will be fine! After all we have to fight our way back to the top of the fight clubs again, right?”

“You are the one to talk! For now you are the trainer, you can’t help us to do so!”

“But Massu will be in the 5th class in no time and maybe even Juri can do it!”

“What, how? He is not even in the 4th class!”

Nikaido looked away on that statement with a smirk on which Kentaro raised an eyebrow at him.

“Nikaido! Is there something you want to tell me?”

“What, no. Everything is fine,” He said as he walked over to the door, but the way he started whistling made Kentaro even more suspicious and he jumped in front of him stopping him.

“Tell me!”

“There is nothing!”

Nika, I said tell me!” Kentaro tried to tickle the other one and even though he was a really strong fighter, he was against all expectations really weak against tickling as he had found out more or less by coincidence one night. But now Kentaro used it to his advantage and wouldn’t let Nikaido run away like this. Laughing, the latter finally took the younger one’s hand away from him.

“Okay, okay. I’m giving up! We changed some fighting classes for the last Osaka tournament without your knowledge!”

“I knew it!” Kentaro let out as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “So I didn’t imagine that you and Ueda were looking at us with a weird expression as you announced our opponents.”

“Ryusei is actually in the 4th class and we wanted to decide after the outcome of the tournament if Juri would change into that class, but Nakai decided to put him into the 4th class without the tournament now that he heard what everyone had done to safe my ass.”

“But he knows that Juri wasn’t really involved in the last battle, right?”

“And you were almost dying, but he still put you into the 3rd class, so don’t complain!”

“I am not com- … Wait, what?” Kentaro needed a moment to get what he had just said, but on Nikaido’s lopsided smile he groaned in annoyance. “So you are actually telling me that Yuma is in the 3rd class? You seriously played me as well and didn’t tell me?”

“Yes,” Nikaido answered without showing any kind of guilt on his face.

“How was that about keeping secrets from each other?”

“Hey, that was an order from Nakai, I wasn’t allowed to tell you!”

“Master of excuses, as always,” Kentaro said as he walked towards the building again.

Before he reached the doors though, Nikaido grabbed him by the arm to turn him around and before the boy could complain Nikaido’s lips were on his and he closed his eyes, moving his hands up to the other’s neck, while Nikaido’s hands stroke over the boys cheek.

“Was that an apology?” Kentaro asked teasing as they parted again.

“No, it was just time to get my payment again! After all it will be difficult to get it when we have to travel to Osaka next week,” Nikaido let out with a teasing smile before he stepped inside the building again.

“I hope I will survive that trip”, Kentaro said worried as he already felt nauseous on the thought of driving down to Osaka with their old bus for hours.

“As long as we put Tegoshi close to the door everything will be okay and if not we have our doc with us, so no worries.

“Oh that reminds me! I always wanted to ask, why are we calling him doc? He has a normal name, doesn’t he?”

“He has, but if you call him by his name he gets overfriendly with you and that is really annoying.”

“It can’t be that bad. He is a nice person after all!”

“Yes nice, as long as you leave it at the doc-routine! As soon as you start calling him by his name, he thinks you will be his best buddy for life time!”

“Mh, I still can’t really believe it,” Kentaro said with a small chuckle.

“You are free to try, but don’t complain afterwards.”

“Then what is his name?”

“Miyata.”

 

+++

SEQUEL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

The Tokyo Fight Club Chronicles officially end here, but in a few weeks/months (still writing) STORY OF THE UNDERWORLD will follow!

The story will have 4 parts. The first 3 are happening at the same time at different locations and will all end in the same last (4th) part:

Call Out - Ueda/Taiga

Comeback - FumaKen

War Child - Nikaido/Yasui

Combat - all

There are a lot of new characters and pairings(!) in those sequels, please give them a try if you liked the Tokyo Fight Club Chronicles and thank you for reading <3

 


End file.
